A Trainer's Reflections: Unova
by Traveling Trainer
Summary: "Humans don't fight about what they think is right just to prove that one is right and one is wrong." An expansion/novelization of one trainer's playthrough of Pokemon Black. Updated with the English localization. Complete!
1. Nuvema: Two Great Partners

The warm, summer gusts flowed through the town's ever-looming propellers, providing power to the buildings that lay within the area. I leaned against one of said windmills, staring at the town from a distance. My new green jacket whipped against the wind, and I raised my hand to block the sunlight from blinding me. A strange, nostalgically-familiar scent wafted into my nostrils, and I unconsciously smiled. This place reminded me quite a bit of home. I slowly and nonchalantly stepped forward, nodding towards the people who said hi. My sneakers scrunched against the dirt path as I walked, eventually stopping at the large building in front of me. The sun no longer in my eyes, I lowered my hand, then leaned forward a bit in surprise. Two other people were already in front of the lab - obviously they had arrived before me in hopes of getting early dibs on one of the starter Pokemon.

One of them was a boy, dark-haired, a pair of sharp-looking glasses donned on his nose. His expensive blue jacket betrayed his lineage; obviously he was part of one of the more wealthy families around here, not that a newcomer like me would know about that. A Pokeball already hung from his belt, and I raised my eyebrow... then lowered it. Of course he'd probably have a Pokemon already. My own family had an Espeon and Umbreon before I had even begun my journeys. I smiled as I thought back to my mother, and back to the eighteen Pokemon I had journeyed with before. I called them all often, teasing my mother about whether or not she was swamped under all these Pokemon to take care of. It was all in good fun, of course - I knew that Glacier, Erik, Iris, and the rest of my Pokemon would help her out as much as they could. Shaking myself out of my reverie, I looked to the one the boy was arguing with.

She was blonde, wearing a cute beret on her head. She wore a simple-looking dress and carried a purse. As I watched her berate the boy, she struggled to pull something out of the purse. She eventually got it out, nearly losing her balance, revealing it to be another Pokeball. She pressed the center button and opened it, letting out a tiny doglike Pokemon with a fuzzy face. The boy sighed dejectedly and opened his own Pokeball, revealing a purple cat with a scythe-like tail. Despite the obvious enmity between their two owners, the cat and dog pounced each other playfully, letting out happy barks and meows. Figuring I had wasted enough time watching, I strode forward, interrupting the feud with a wave of my hand.

"Hi!"

The pair silenced and glared daggers at me. I didn't shrink back.

"Y'know, when you've traveled as much as me, a simple look isn't going to get me to go away."

The pair kept glaring, then lowered their heads in defeat. The two Pokemon of theirs stopped wrestling with each other and scampered over to me, the Purrloin sniffing around me feet while the Lillipup jumped up against my leg. I knelt down to pet both Pokemon, and they both let out a pleased purr. I looked up to find the other two kneeling as well. Deciding to make acquaintances, I looked at the girl and smiled.

"What's your name, miss?" The girl looked back at me, then let out a stream of giggling.

"My name's Bianca!" Her words were nearly incomprehensible underneath the constant giggling, and I heard the boy audibly sigh in annoyance. I turned to him to ask his name, but he beat me to it.

"My name's Cheren. Pleased to meet you." He rubbed his temples with one hand, holding his other hand. I shook it firmly, then shook Bianca's waiting hand, who then spoke again. "And this..." She picked up her puppy, who yipped happily and licked her cheek. Her giggles grew louder, and she wiped her cheek on her sleeve. "...is Snuggles!"

I couldn't help but let out a laugh at the childish name. Even the corners of Cheren's mouth twitched upward. He knelt down and the cat leapt onto his shoulder, licking its paw. He proudly pointed to it, and it gave out a meow.

"This would be my Purrloin, Matthew." He poked it, and it bit down on his fingernail cutely. He pulled away, hissing quietly, and Bianca laughed loudly. Cheren sucked on his finger and shot a dirty look at Bianca, then gave Matthew a scolding glance. Matthew simply stared back with a ridiculously endearing look, and I gave him a pat, much to Cheren's displeasure. Suddenly, the door to the building opened, causing Bianca to stop laughing. We all stared at the one who had opened the door.

She was a tall, older woman, with bright red hair in an inexplicable hairstyle. Her white shirt and green skirt were covered by a giant white labcoat, and she gave us a small wave. "Hello! Bianca, Cheren!" She nodded towards both of them, then stopped at me. "And who might you be...?" I slowly put my hand out, my other hand in my jacket pocket.

"My name's Bill." The woman took my hand and shook it warmly. "And I'm guessing you're Professor Juniper?" She nodded, and I smiled. So this was the right place after all.

"I was told you were the one to go to about the Unova starter Pokemon?" She let go of my hand and walked back into the lab, beckoning all of us to come in. Cheren and Bianca stepped inside, their Pokemon trotting along behind them. After some slight hesitation (for what reason I don't know), I followed them inside.

Compared to the weather outside, the lab was quite cool inside, and I zipped up my jacket a bit. Stepping past Cheren and Bianca, I fell into stride with Professor Juniper, walking down a long hallway.

"So, Professor." I began. She stopped and poked her head into a room, talking to a hidden someone inside. I waited patiently, and her head reappeared, the door closing. We began to walk again, and she turned to me.

"Yes, Bill?" I placed a hand on my chin, rubbing my stubble. I'd need to shave soon.

"What exactly do you research? I've worked with Professor Rowan off in Sinnoh, so it'd be useful to know." At this, Cheren and Bianca looked at me with renewed interest, and Juniper raised her eyebrow.

"You've worked with Rowan before?" She stretched her arms. "That old coot… How's he doing?" She slid her hands into her labcoat's pockets – she was far more casual than Rowan was. "Ah, never mind. You can tell me about him later. Here we are!" The four of us stopped at a set of double-doors marked 'Main', and Juniper pushed open one of the doors, holding it for us. We stepped into the room, the door slamming closed behind us.

It was quite large, with a few familiar pieces of equipment around the room – the standard-issue healing machine beeped in the corner, and a large scanner stood dormant to the side. Cheren and Bianca stepped past me, but I took the time to take in the room. It was quite a bit like Rowan's lab back in Sinnoh. Juniper reached into a box and pulled out three Pokeballs covered in a Ball Capsule. One was marked with a pink-flower-petal seal, one was marked with a few fire-releasing seals, and the last was oddly covered in multiple colored bubble seals. Juniper silently pressed the button on each ball, releasing the Pokemon within with a burst of either petals, embers, or bubbles.

Now standing before us were three Pokemon – a green, bipedal… snake thing? A small orange pig, and a tiny white otter with a shell on its belly. The snake spat on the floor and crossed his leafy arms, tapping his foot impatiently. The pig let out an excited oink and began to run around our legs. The otter ran behind Juniper's legs and hid, shivering a little bit. She picked up the otter (eliciting a surprised "Osha!" out of it) and placed it back in front of her, only to have it hide behind her legs again. She sighed.

"These are our three starter Pokemon." She plucked a pen and tiny notebook out of her breast pocket, clicking the end of the pen. She pointed it towards the grass snake, who was indignantly looking away from the rest of us.

"That would be Snivy, the grass snake Pokemon." She saw him spit on the floor again and lightly tapped his head with the pen. He let out an annoyed "Sni" and turned towards us, a smug smirk on his face all the while. She turned towards the pig, who was still dashing around our legs.

"That little guy is Tepig, the fire pig Pokemon." He suddenly stopped and let out a loud cough, which manifested itself as a veritable dust cloud of black smoke, covering the little thing in soot. Bianca yelped loudly and pulled a handkerchief out of her purse, wiping the soot off of the thing vigorously. Juniper, Cheren and I chuckled, and she then looked down at the little otter, who was now staring out from behind her legs.

"This is Oshawott, the sea otter Pokemon." She tapped his back lightly to try and get him out from behind her, and the tiny thing slowly toddled out, staring directly at me with an expectant look. I knelt down, reaching my hand out. He slowly but surely stepped towards my hand, sniffing it, then grasped it with his tiny paw and shook it. As hard as I tried, I couldn't help but have my heart melt. I reached out with my other hand and swept the little otter up into a cradle-hold, and it clung to my shirt, shrieking. I could feel my face gain a sheepish look.

"Whoops." I began to rub its back to calm it down, and it soon ceased its yelling, being replaced with barely-audible breathing. The otter fell back into my cradle-hold, revealing it to be asleep, snoring cutely, sucking unconsciously on one of its paws. I looked up at Juniper, whose smile could have crossed the entire room. "I think I've chosen my starter."

She reached over and grabbed the bubble-adorned ball, placing it into a machine. There was a 'ka-chunk', and a second later, the ball reappeared, the Capsule removed. She took it back and handed it to me. I turned back to Bianca and Cheren. Bianca was flat on her back, laughing, the Tepig's tail tickling her side. It, along with Snuggles, if the wagging Lillipup tail was any indication, were exploring her purse, probably covering everything inside with soot. Juniper tapped the Tepig's head with her pen, and it jumped out, nose covered in what looked like glaze from a donut. Bianca sat up, then wiped the Tepig's nose with her now thoroughly-grimy handkerchief, and looked at Juniper and I.

"He got into my breakfast… sorry!" She grasped her purse and stood up, denying the pig and dog any more sweets, which was probably for the better. Cheren and Matthew, on the other hand, had gotten into a heated argument with the Snivy, who wasn't even actually responding; it simply stared at the two with a discerning look. The smug snake then leapt up (with surprising agility for one so small) and tackled Matthew out of his perch on Cheren's shoulder. Matthew landed fine, but was now hissing at the Snivy, who had resumed his foot-tapping and arm-crossing on top of Cheren's shoulder.

Juniper cleared her throat, then wrote a few things in her notebook. "So, have you thought of names?" I did a double-take and scratched my head. I actually hadn't thought of a name yet, and so I shook my head no. Cheren and Bianca, on the other hand, had already though of names.

"James." Cheren immediately stated, and the Snivy nodded in agreement. Bianca, on the other hand, patted the piglet's head and piped up with "Dusty!" which the Tepig seemed quite happy to agree with. All eyes turned to me, which caused me to look away, embarrassed. I stared at the Oshawott in my arms in thought, and a name came to me out of the blue.

"Cyan." I breathed out, and the otter let out an unconscious "Wott" in agreement. Juniper scribbled out a few hasty lines in her notebook, which I assumed to be our names, starter choices, and starter names, then sat down in a rolling chair and propelled herself to a computer, where she began to type furiously. A few minutes later, we heard three dings, and she pushed herself over to us, holding three small devices (which I assumed to be a standard-issue Pokedex) and two green cards. She handed Cheren and Bianca a card and device each, and she handed me a device as well.

"Those are your Trainer Licenses and Pokedexes. I'm certain you've heard the whole speal before, but I'll just cut it down – don't lose those." We nodded firmly, and she smiled. "Well then, you're free to go!" I stood up to leave, but Cheren pointed a finger at me.

"Hold it right there." I halted and turned on my heels. I couldn't help but smile – Cheren was pointed at me, a determined look on his face. But that wasn't the funny thing; James the Snivy was mimicking him from his shoulder.

"Why are you in such a rush? I want a battle." I dove into my bag and looked into my wallet. A meager five-hundred dollars was left in there – enough for a few meals, sure, but not if I lost a battle.

"Alright, if you're up for it. I hope you're okay with no prize money." Cheren nodded, signifying his agreement to those terms, and he led all three of us outside.


	2. Striaton: Little Developments

"Let's see..." I grasped the Pokedex in my hand, checking the area setting for Oshawott's general location. It wouldn't show me anything, but it did function as a handy alternative to a town map, even with the large 'AREA UNKNOWN' smack dab in the middle of the screen. I traced a path with my finger, then squinted and traced it again. I then shut off the Pokedex and slipped it back into my pocket.

"It looks like we've got about a day more to travel till we reach Striaton City!" Cyan bounded up out of his resting spot with a loud, confident "Osha!" I gave him a quick pat on the head, and he nibbled my palm playfully. Unlike Cheren and Matthew, I didn't mind Pokemon biting me - teething was natural, or at least I thought it was, considering my escapade with another baby Pokemon.

Well, Cyan's teeth didn't break the skin, at any rate.

We had been together for about two weeks, and we had caught two more members. One was a Purrloin, like Cheren's, except mine was female. I named her Refia, and she enjoyed teasing and toying with Cyan. On the contrary, Cyan didn't enjoy it at all, so Refia generally stayed in her Pokeball, except during meals. As for Cyan himself, he had begun to bond with me, although the whole first week he was very meek and quiet - he only started to open up when I lightly scolded Refia for teasing him.

My other new catch was a Mienfoo, who I called Erin. I had actually caught her just the night before (I hadn't even let her back out of her Pokeball yet), and I didn't know much about her personally. I had checked her Pokedex entry when I caught her (seeing as I hadn't seen another Pokemon like her so far – mostly it was just Patrats and Lillipups), and I had been very surprised (and more than a little troubled) to find that Mienfoo generally made their habitat in Victory Road. Victory Road! A Pokemon that normally lived in the final test for trainers, somehow found all the way down here! I had called Juniper (who had been calling Cheren at the time) to ask her about what I should do with it, and she had simply recommended for me to take it with me. Seeing as I had no real other choice, I had kept Erin's Pokeball with me. I made a mental note to myself to let her out sometime today.

I stood up, and let Cyan clamber up into my hair, where he would sit when we walked. Of course, I made him walk sometimes, if only to get some consistent exercise, but he preferred my hair to his feet, probably for good reason. He stood up tall and proud, and pointed forward, brandishing his swordshell, calling out a battlecry-esqe yell of "Oshaaaaaaaaaa!" Thankfully, nobody was around the area of the countryside we had camped out in, so there wasn't anyone to give him (or me) strange glances. I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and began to walk. I had to admit, Unova was incredibly different from Sinnoh. The routes seemed far more straightforward, and I even saw patches of tall grass blocked off by a white-picket fence and gate, something I never saw in any of the regions I'd explored before. In fact, I got so caught up in the scenery that I nearly crashed into the couple in front of me that was calling my name.

You know what, scratch that, I won't lie. I did crash into them, and I flopped over on my back hard, the wind getting knocked out of me. Cyan had leapt out of my hair beforehand, and he sprayed my face with a Water Gun to try and wake me up.

"Cyan, I'm…" I breathed in deep. "I'm not unconscious, stop it…" While it was admittedly nice to have a near-infinite supply of water to wake anyone up from fainting, Cyan didn't really have his Water Gun under control yet, and he was mostly soaking my hair. I could hear the couple chuckling under their breath, then I felt the Water Gun cease, and I sat up, shaking my hair to get the excess water out. One of the two trainers was struggling with Cyan, who was now spraying water everywhere. I stood up and took the little otter from the trainer.

"Cyan!" Cyan stopped using Water Gun, and stared at me. I smiled. "I'm fine now. You don't need to flood everywhere." He looked around at that quip, noticing that most of the area was now mud. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of "Oshawott". I gave him a quick hug and patted his head.

"Apology accepted. Just don't panic as much next time." I set him down on the ground and turned, my eyes locking with the couple's. Wordlessly, I plucked a Pokeball out of my bag and tossed it. Refia came out, meowing playfully, and she licked her claws. Cyan took a stance next to her. The couple tossed out their own two Pokeballs, and the battle commenced.

* * *

The couple's twin Lillipups collapsed, multiple scratches from Refia's claws littering their bodies, and they returned them to their Pokeballs. I did the same with Cyan. The two Lillipups had used a sand-attack on the poor guy, but due to the water he had sprayed moments before, he had been completely blinded by a double serving of thick mud. This caused Cyan to be easy pickings for tackles, and he had quickly fainted. Refia, on the flipside, had used her natural catlike agility and reflexes to avoid most of the clumsy attacks the Lillipups had thrown at her, and had taken both of them out all by herself, earning her a well-deserved petting and an Oran Berry. I waved as the couple ambled off in the direction I had come from, speaking amiably about nothing in particular.

I stepped out of the muddy area and looked forward. A large clump of buildings stood before me. Finally, I had reached Striaton City. Straining my neck, I caught a glimpse of a red roof among the other houses, and began to stride towards it. The automatic glass doors swished open, and I walked over to the main counter, where the red-haired nurse bowed with a smile.

"Good evening!" She said. I checked my Pokegear and raised an eyebrow. Somehow, the battle had taken up most of the late afternoon – it was seven o'clock. "I assume you need to get your Pokemon all healed up?"

I nodded, fumbling around in my messenger bag for Refia's Pokeball. I felt my shoulder lose weight, and I saw her leap onto the counter, where she let out a soft meow and lay down, napping. I gave her a soft smile, finally managing to grab her Pokeball, and returned her to it. "Sleep well, Refia." I said, the cat forming into a red sphere of energy that the ball absorbed. I took the other two Pokeballs out of my bag and gave all three to the nurse. Taking them, I watched her as she placed them into a tray and slid them into the healing machine. Pressing a few buttons, the machine began to click and whir as the process began. Another, louder noise groaned above the machine, and I looked down to see that the perpetrator was my own stomach. The nurse couldn't help but laugh loudly, and I soon joined her. After a while, we died down, but the nurse still had on a laughing smile.

"On that note," I began, still chuckling. "Where's a good place to eat around here?" The nurse turned to tend to the machine, her eyes scanning the screen for any discrepancies.

"Well, there's really only one place around here: Striaton Restaurant and Gym, just next door." I instinctively turned my head out the window, and saw a large, stylized Pokeball symbol – the mark of a Pokemon Gym. Wait, Restaurant _and_ Gym? I turned back to the nurse.

"It's both?" I asked, a bit skeptically. The nurse simply winked at me.

"It'll take some time for your Pokemon to finish healing up. Why not go over there and see what you're up against?" My mind cleared up a bit, now understanding the wisdom in her suggestion, and I casually walked out, waving to the nurse. "I'll see you later, then!" I called to her, and she waved back.

Stepping outside, I noticed the air was a bit crisper, an anomaly compared to the muggier nights Cyan and I had spent around Nuvema and Accumula. The city itself was still bustling with activity, parents walking around with their children, who themselves were walking around with their Pokemon. I noted that they mostly seemed to have Lillipups, Patrats, or Purrloins, although one blue-jacketed boy that was entering the Trainer School had a Snivy on his shoulder. I guessed that this was probably Cheren and that I ought to go say hi later, but for now, my stomach took priority. I pushed open the door to the gym, and walked inside.

It certainly looked strange. It was like a combination of a standardized gym battlefield, with tables for paying customers littering the edges of the room, far enough away so that patrons wouldn't be harmed by any attacks (unless an attack was directly aimed at a table, although that would probably result in getting booted out of the place). I crossed between the familiar Rhydon and Kangaskhan statues that stood at the sides of the entrance, and a white-shirted man strode over to me with an order-pad.

"Good evening, and welcome to the Striaton Restaurant and Gym." His voice was rather gravelly, and he coughed somewhat to prove my point. "Have you a reservation, or are you eating out tonight?"

"I'm eating out tonight, thanks." He handed me a menu and a bottle of fresh water (which I thanked him for), and my eyes looked over the choices. I had to admit, they had a lot of stuff I didn't think they would, and some of the more expensive stuff was mouth-wateringly delicious-sounding (especially to a hungry guy like me). However, I had to remember that I was paying for a meal for four (even if three of those four were Pokemon), and I settled on ordering a shared plate of fried Magikarp. Even if I didn't like fishy foods too much (a bad childhood experience with some canned Magikarp does that to you), I knew that Cyan would enjoy it, being a water type, and he would probably want to enjoy something after his defeat earlier today. The caretaker sat me down in a separate chair to wait for the food to get ready, and I decided to watch the tail-end of a battle that seemed to be taking place. How I had missed it when I arrived, I don't think I'd ever know.

The challenger was a young kid, probably ten years old, wearing shorts and a yellow baseball cap turned backwards. His Patrat was standing, albeit weakly, and it looked like it was on its last legs. The other battler, who I assumed was the Gym Leader, was a red-haired man in a waiter's outfit, hopping up and down in untamed excitement. His Pokemon, a strange red monkey with a fire-shaped hair tuft, was doing the same.

"Go, Pansear! Use your Incinerate!" The monkey leapt up and threw back his head, yelling loudly. The heat seemed to rise in the entire room, which shocked me quite a bit, and Pansear spat a large ember at the Patrat, knocking it flat onto its back, completely unconscious. The referee stepped forward and waited. At the ten-second mark, he raised a flag, pointing towards the red-haired waiter, who immediately wrapped his monkey into a rather uncomfortable-looking hug. The monkey just let his arms and legs flop around and closed his eyes. The youngster picked up his Patrat, thanked the waiter, and rushed out of the restaurant.

"So... the gym is a fire-type gym, eh..." I grinned devilishly. I could work with this. Suddenly, a pair of rather-close-to-my-face hands placed a plastic-foam box marked 'Magikarp' in front of me, and I yelped softly in surprise. I turned to find myself looking at a blue-haired man in a waiter's outfit, the exact same kind as the red-haired man's.

"Too wrapped up in watching Chili battle, eh?" I nodded meekly, then thought a moment. Chili? That was the leader's name? Who would name their kid 'Chili"?

"Most people do - it's his battle style, I think. He's so full of energy, even if it does make him make mistakes sometimes." I raised an eyebrow. How did this guy know so much, even if he was a worker here?

"I suppose you're wondering who I am. I'm one of the brothers who runs this gym." I did a double take.

"Wait, what?" He stifled a laugh and attempted to mask it as a cough.

"Yes, this gym has more than one leader. In fact, it has three!" I felt my jaw open slightly.

"The leader you face depends on what you chose as a starter Pokemon from miss Juniper. Whoever you chose is at a disadvantage. It's a test for new trainers to see if they're really ready." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. That threw a wrench into my plans, although I suppose it never was as easy as a type-advantage sweep. I picked up my box of food, handed the blue-haired waiter some cash, and walked out back towards the Pokemon Center. The scent of fried fish seemed to leave an unseen trail, and many people's Pokemon raised their heads, sniffing. I quickly got to the Pokemon Center as to avoid a crowd of Pokemon trying to get at my food. The nurse bowed again, and handed me the tray of three Pokeballs. I took them and slipped them into my bag.

"Ah, do you have any rooms available?" She nodded, taking a key from under the counter and handing it to me. I checked the key, which said Room 7. I nodded my thanks.

"See you in the morning!" She smiled, and I walked down the hall to the left. Stopping at the room marked '7', I slipped in the key and unlocked it. I stepped in.

It wasn't anything special, just a typical Pokemon Center room. A couch, a table, a bed, and a small Pokemon bed if a trainer chose to let his Pokemon say out of their Pokeballs. I placed the box of fried fish on the table and reached into my bag, pulling out my three Pokeballs. I pressed the button on the first one. Out came Erin, who looked around the unfamiliar area in wonder. I pressed the second one. This time, Refia appeared, her eyes sparkling at the smell of fish. Opening up the last one, I saw Cyan emerge, and he immediately ran to me, tugging on my pantleg tightly. I picked him up and sat him in my lap, and Refia jumped up onto the couch, sitting next to him. She began to yell (for lack of a better word) at him in what I could only describe as a half-condescending, half-angry tone. Cyan's eyes widened at the onslaught of incomprehensible insults, and so did Erin's.

But Refia didn't stop there. Before I could even reach over her to distract her with food, she was sticking her face right in Cyan's, screaming at him with loud, grating hisses and meows. Cyan began to bawl. I realized exactly what Refia had been yelling at him about, and I groaned - I had gone to all this trouble to begin building up Cyan's self-confidence again, and Refia had torn it down even further in the span of a few minutes. Goddamn brilliant. I was about to return Refia to her ball as punishment for acting out of line when I heard a loud 'RRRRAOW!' and an even louder crash. I immediately looked up, and my jaw dropped for the second time that night.

Erin, as her first act of being under my ownership, had taken it upon herself to administer her own punishment to Refia, that being of a rather powerful fighting-type move, which I later learned was Rock Smash. Erin herself was breathing hard, standing on the couch next to a completely dumbstruck Cyan, who was eyeing her in awe, and what I thought was admiration. I looked over at Refia, who had flown all the way to the other wall, completely unconscious. I groaned again, and returned her to her ball. The silence that permeated the room afterwards was ridiculously awkward, and I opened my mouth to say something to break it. However, I felt a movement in my lap, and I saw Cyan dash over to Erin, hugging her tightly, beginning to bawl again. This caused Erin to go numb, as she simply stood there, blushing slightly. I couldn't blame her. I mean, if you had a little otter crying onto your chest, you'd probably be blushing too.

I stepped out of the room to give the nurse Refia's Pokeball. I'm pretty sure she was going to ask what happened, but the tired look I gave her answered any question she might have had. I dragged my hand across my face as I slowly, ever so slowly, walked back. Today had been a long day. As I walked back into the room, I was greeted to the sight of Cyan and Erin sitting on the table, chowing down on the fried fish, chattering with each other in their adorably nonsensical language. I smiled wide. Feeing rejuvenated, I sat back down on the couch and plucked a piece of fish out of Cyan's hands playfully.

"Hey now, leave some for me!" I said, snickering. I felt my face get hit with a Water Gun, and my eyelids lowered halfway in a mock-disapproving look. Erin began to laugh, and so did Cyan. I lowered the piece of fish into my mouth and chewed. Somehow, even though it was fish, it didn't taste like anything other than the breading - which made me want even more of it. Soon enough, Erin, Cyan and I had polished it all off, along with the fresh water bottle I had nearly forgotten about. We all sat back, patting our stomachs, and I loosened my belt a little. Cyan and Erin hopped off the table clumsily, flopping around due to their full bellies, and they eventually clambered up onto the bed and fell asleep, Cyan hugging Erin tightly to him. I was going to wake them up so that I could have the bed, but I decided against it as the picture was just too adorable. I grabbed a blanket, and fluffed the couch cushion - no sense sleeping on the floor. I fell asleep before I even hit the pillow.


	3. Nacrene: One Close Shave

"Man... it's been a long time since we saw civilization."

Cyan paused cleaning his twin swordshells a moment to nod at me with a confident smile, and I smiled back at his fuzzy blue face. Erin was nearby, practicing her Rock Smash on a poor, unsuspecting tree. Cyan and I both winced as we heard a loud 'crack', and we turned our heads to see a very large branch collapse, with Erin gracefully performing a dive roll to break her fall and finishing up in front of us.

It had been a month since we had been at any kind of city. Striaton we had left after helping Juniper's colleague, Fennel, get some Dream Smoke for her Dream World experiences. It was quite the interesting idea she had, and it completely enchanted Cyan and Erin; they both gave the Dream World a try along with me. Their subconscious minds were... entertaining, to say the very least (Cyan had brought me along on a dragon hunt, and Erin had taken me sailing on the top of a Wailord).

A lot had changed. Erin, Refia, and Cyan had become stronger, and we had been given a gift from a passing trainer - A Pansear, like Pod's. I named him Vivi, and he was very curious. Erin and Cyan seemed to like him, making sure that he didn't wander off too far, absorbed in his own curiosity. Due to this absentmindedness of his, he normally stayed in his ball, along with Refia, who now refused to be out with another Pokemon of mine unless it was Vivi, the only one who she liked (and who could blame her?).

The biggest change, however, would have to be that Cyan had evolved. Where there was once a quiet and thin-skinned Oshawott, there was now a less-quiet and tougher Dewott. The day he had evolved, he had plucked a shard of rock from one he slashed with his twin swordshells. A few days later, I noticed that it was impeding his swordshell training, and I offered to make it into a necklace for him. He happily obliged, and from then on he had worn the necklace like a trademark. I still had no idea what was so special about that tiny piece of gray stone, but maybe it was something personal to him. I didn't want to ask - I wouldn't have been able to understand his answer anyway, so it was a moot point.

Cyan helped Erin up after the dive roll, and he reached into my bag (now that he had evolved and was more in-control of his abilities, I trusted him a little more to peruse my stuff) and pulled out an Ether, which he then sprayed on Erin all by himself. I checked my Pokegear while I packed up the campsite - five in the morning. I rubbed nonexistent sleep from my eyes and wrapped my Pokegear around my wrist. Erin and Cyan seemed to have a thing about getting up early and training before, during, and after breakfast. While it was nice to have them on a regular schedule, I couldn't help but feel that I wasn't getting enough sleep.

Standing up and dusting off my pants, I pointed towards Nacrene City, which was finally, finally in sight, across a large hill. Cyan stood next to me with his swordshells drawn, ready for anything that might come at us. Erin attempted to climb up onto my shoulder, but I picked her up and placed her on the ground.

"You and Cyan are too big to ride on my shoulder now. Haven't I told you that?" It was all in good fun, of course - a morning ritual, if you will. However, before anything else happened, we heard a loud rustling in the bushes. Cyan lifted his swordshells into a defensive stance, and Erin took a fighting pose. For a few more moments, the bushes rustled... then nothing. We de-tensed, and I breathed. You never knew what could happen around here.

And then it happened.

A huge Zebstrika leaped out of the bushes, majestic black-and-white fur crackling with electricity. Behind it, a herd of Blitzles appeared, their fur crackling as well, albeit not quite as forcefully. I fell on my ass in surprise, and Erin and Cyan backed away. The Zebstrika clopped up to me and began to sniff me, and I inched away as non-threateningly as I could. I slowly stood up, and the zebra's eyes narrowed. It let out a cry as it began to charge an attack. My eyes widened to dinner-plate-size, and I turned tail and ran like the wind.

"Cyan! Erin! C'mon!" They ran with me, and I saw a huge bolt of electricity strike the place where we had been moments before. The area lit up, and I turned my head back forward, running faster. I saw an opening out of the forested area, and I took my chance. Speeding my way out of the trees, I saw Nacrene getting closer and closer. Cyan let out a cry, and I turned back, fearing the worst.

It was the worst: The Zebstrika was following us, along with the herd of Blitzles, launching thundershocks at us. The best way I could describe it is like a kind of... a kind of bullet hell, where one wrong move and you'd be fried by the electricity. Erin was leading us, her fighting type and constant training paying off as she left us in her dust. Cyan and I kept our pace, although Cyan was panicking - water and electricity didn't mix, and he knew it. A few weeks ago, he had nearly fainted when he tried practicing his swordshell attacks on a Blitzle... Oh no. Oh _no_. Was that what they were upset about? I turned to Cyan.

"Cyan, are they mad about that other Blitzle you fought with?" I said sternly (as sternly as I could when running for our lives). He ducked his head in shame, and my eyes softened. I would have comforted him more, but another large blast of electricity separated us, and I looked back again. The Zebstrika had stopped, and the Blitzle stood behind it. It began to yell out, and I saw a wave of electricity flow into it, before it stomped the ground and let loose a fast-moving lightning bolt - a shockwave, headed straight for Cyan. My eyes widened in horror, and I nearly didn't notice that we had ran into Nacrene by this time, the citizens staring at the spectacle in confusion. I saw Erin run into the Pokemon Center, beckoning us to follow her, but it was too late. The shockwave grew closer and closer, and I did the only thing I could think of.

"Cyan!" I dashed towards Cyan and wrapped him up into a deathgrip, rolling wildly across the concrete and crashing into the pavement, my head painfully smashing against the corner of the sidewalk. I let out a yelp of pain as I wrapped Cyan up into my jacket and glared defiantly at the lightning bolt that was now hovering over us. I could see all the malice that the Zebstrika wished towards us in that single attack. I heard a voice call out, "Drilbur, use Mud Sport!" and I felt something slightly damp and ucky cover me. The electrical attack hit me, but the shock was severely weakened by the Mud Sport, and it soon dissipated. I felt myself faint, exhausted by the morning's events.

* * *

When I awoke, I found myself in a bed, the fluorescent bulb in the ceiling casting a warm glow around the room. I sat up, and a splitting pain wracked through my forehead, causing me to wince and scrunch my eyes. I heard the door open, and turned to look, even though my eyes were closed. The intruder stepped over to me and opened my eyes, using a bottle of eyedrops on them. I blinked madly to get them out, but as soon as they were absorbed, my eyesight was better, and the headache waned. I turned to look at the nurse, who was now placing a tray of four Pokeballs on my bedside table.

"That was pretty reckless of you, trainer." The nurse's tone was soft but cold, and I could tell that I was in for a lecture. "You and your Dewott are all right - my Drilbur's Mud Sport weakened the shockwave enough so that it did no major damage to either of you." I rubbed my eyes.

"How long was I out?"

"For about seven or eight hours. If your Mienfoo hadn't gone to get me, you'd have been out for a lot longer." I checked my Pokegear. One in the afternoon. She was telling the truth.

"You should be able to leave our care by tomorrow. For now, you should rest." I sighed. At least she didn't lecture me about anything important.

"And by the way..."

Spoke too soon.

"...what on earth were you thinking, traveling through the Blitzle's territory? Autumn is their breeding period, and they get ridiculously protective of their living area when babies are around." She asked, her voice now hard. I groaned out an answer.

"I didn't... know that it was Blitzle breeding season... didn't know it was their territory, either... I'm not a native." The nurse gave me a look that personified 'excuses, excuses' and turned to leave.

"Well, knowing is half the battle. Now that you know, maybe you'll be more careful from now on." I flinched at the insult, and she left the room. As soon as the door closed, I let my head fall back onto the pillow. I heard all four Pokeballs open up by themselves, but I was too tired to try and return everyone back to them, which is why I soon found myself beset upon by all four of my Pokemon.

Refia climbed up onto my lap and pretended to nap, but I could tell that she was worried about me, even if she was surrounded by Pokemon she didn't like. Vivi sat on top of my head and draped his arms over my face and also began to sleep, radiating a warm body heat. Erin and Cyan simply hugged onto my chest tightly, not wanting to let go, and Cyan in particular kept babbling out nonsense, probably thanking me for protecting him. Feeling happy, the events of the early morning began to catch up with me again, and I felt my eyes closing in much-desired peaceful rest. I wrapped my arms around me, hugging Cyan and Erin, and I felt myself let out a "Thanks, everyone..." before finally succumbing to exhaustion. I slept through to the next day, my Pokemon beside me.


	4. Castelia: Present and Past

I stumbled out of Pinwheel Forest, the musty, overgrown smell of the place sticking to my clothes, the darkness of the early morning causing me to question where I was for a moment. Cyan and Erin followed me, panting, and Vivi and Refia followed behind them. We had spent all of the day before in there, chasing after Team Plasma's goons. They had stolen the skull of a dragon Pokemon's skeleton - the Nacrene Museum's pride and joy. Seeing as I was there to witness it, I felt responsible for getting it back. Cheren and Bianca had watched the museum while Burgh, Castelia's gym leader, and I chased after the grunts. He had watched the path leading out to Castelia City while I was roped into delving into the depths of the forest itself.

I had eventually caught up with (and fought with) all of the Plasma grunts, each of them taunting me with the fact that they didn't have the skull, up until the last one, who had stupidly ran and hid in a dead end part of the forest. Sometimes, I wondered how stupid humanity could get, especially lowlifes like Plasma. He had actually put up a tough fight, and I had to use my entire team against him, but we brought him down, where he angrily gave us back the skull and left in a huff with one of the Seven Sages. I was going to make a remark that the Seven Sages idea had already been done once before, but they had disappeared before I could say so. Oh well.

I stopped at the balcony of the small scenic point, sitting down for a rest. Erin sat down next to me and began to meditate, and Cyan did the same. Vivi attempted to mimic them, but after a few minutes of silence he opened his eyes and began to wonder why nobody was talking. Refia simply napped on Vivi's lap, purring. I looked across the railing, and I leapt up in excitement, causing Vivi to yelp out and jump, which in turn caused Refia to let out a surprised meow and fall off his lap. Cyan and Erin opened their eyes at the commotion and turned to me to see what was going on, but all they saw was me staring in wonder at a sight across the sea. They climbed up onto my shoulders (I didn't care about the weight - they deserved to see this too) and stared with me, their mouths gaping in awe.

Standing just a short walk nearby was a gigantic bridge, so huge that I couldn't see where it led to. At the bottom part of the bridge, there was a big road, where trucks would drive both ways across the bridge, carrying what were no doubt goods from other towns - I had heard from almost everybody - Bianca, Cheren, Juniper, citizens, passing trainers, literally everybody - that Castelia was the center of commerce for the entire region of Unova, so it would make sense that it was the place for imports and exports. Above the road, there was a large walkway where I assumed people traversed the bridge by foot. I quickly walked into the small route-separation area, where a man at the counter greeted me.

"Hello, there, trainer!" I smiled my hello to him, and he directed me towards a line of a ticket booth. I returned my four Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and slipped them through a scanner. In the meantime, I stepped through the gate, slipping my trainer's card into a slot on the scanner, and the man handed back my Pokeballs, which I then opened up to let everyone out again. They smiled at the man, who smiled back, and he handed me both my trainer's card and a small scrap of paper with the words "Sky Arrow Ticket" printed on it. I looked up at him.

"Here at the Sky Arrow Bridge, we require a ticket be issued to anyone who plans on crossing it by foot. A few months ago we didn't have this system in place, but there was an incident where a whole crowd of trainers and Pokemon went over the amount of weight it could carry and caused a crack in the walkway." I audibly gulped at the thought. Heights were one of my biggest fears (I even closed my eyes when I flew with my Pokemon), and falling off a walkway onto the truck-filled road, or into the sea far below, was not my cup of tea.

"The crack was fixed, of course, but we now give tickets out as a preventive measure. Only a certain amount of trainers are allowed on at a time." He winked at me. "But you got here quite early, so you're free to go." I grinned wildly... then heard my stomach grumble softly. I placed a hand on it to soothe it, and looked back at the man. I heard Vivi stifle a laugh, but I didn't really care.

"How big is the bridge, exactly?" The man ducked under the counter and handed me a pamphlet, which said "Sky Arrow Bridge and Castelia City! A Visitor's Guide!" printed in huge, eye-catching red letters on it. The man pointed towards a few chairs (he probably wanted to stay alert in case more trainers came in for tickets), and I sat in one, crossing one leg over the other and fidgeting a bit to get comfortable. Flipping through the pamphlet, my eyes only grew wider and wider. I couldn't help but read it out loud to my Pokemon, who were now crowding around me, trying to get a better look.

"The Sky Arrow Bridge is almost 6,000 feet long... over 100,000 people and vehicles cross the Sky Arrow Bridge each year... The bridge can take six hours to cross, so bring a snack..." I patted my messenger bag, feeling the sandwiches I had bought at the Nacrene Cafe squish slightly from being piled under all sorts of other stuff. I folded the pamphlet and slipped it into my back pocket, and I strode outside, my Pokemon either following behind or riding on my shoulders.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the walkway. This... this was incredible. There wasn't anything like this in any region I'd been to - not in Kanto, not in Hoenn, not in Sinnoh. Heck, even some of the stuff I'd seen at home in Johto was nothing compared to this. I was completely awed. Completely and utterly awed. And that awe would have stayed with me forever, had a truck not honked for some unknown reason. I jumped in half-shock at the loud noise, and I spun on my heel to yell at the driver, but he was long gone, already inside the tunnel into Nacrene. Sighing in defeat, I turned around again and began to walk across the bridge. Soon enough, the brown-and-green trees of Pinwheel Forest were a speck in the distance, and the only thing we heard (other than the trucks) was the sound of our footsteps.

The autumn weather, combined with the cooler seawater below the bridge, caused the air currents to be quite cold, and I zipped my jacket up entirely. Cyan, Erin, and Refia were shivering, despite their fur coats (although they were admittedly rather thin fur coats), but Vivi was quite cheerful, bouncing along and humming a tune to himself. We kept at it like this for a few hours, and I eventually realized that due to Vivi's fire type, he was able to radiate his body heat up to a comfortable temperature. When I mentioned this to him and the others, we all stopped at a small area of the walkway and huddled around him, where he increased his heat and warmed us all up.

My stomach growled louder, and I heard some other grumbles as well, so I figured it was a good time to have the sandwiches. I reached into my bag and pulled out the five plastic baggies that held the food, and handed one to each of my Pokemon. We began to devour them hungrily, our legs hanging off the edge of the walkway. The sunrise was in full bloom now, slowly getting higher and higher into the sky, illuminating the sea and turning it gold. I could hear my Pokemon gasping at the sight, and I gasped right along with them. It was gorgeous. I turned my head at a small noise, and saw Erin putting her paw into Cyan's, trying to make it as subtle as possible. I guess it worked, as Cyan simply grasped it and squeezed it, much to Erin's delight, as she put on a big smile.

I turned back to continue watching the sunrise, and was surprised to see the visage of the sun, reflecting on the water, being cut through by a large ship, which then drifted under the bridge. Unfortunately, it took that time to blow its horns, loud and long, and I covered my ears in irritation. I moved to the other side of the walkway to see what boat it was, and my eyes widened when I saw a huge group of people standing on deck.

"What on earth could that ship be..." I cut myself off as I stared at the name on the boat. Printed on the side of the bow were the words 'S.S. Anne'. Memories of an earlier time when I had been on the very same boat (once) flooded my mind, and I smiled wide.

"Man." I said in amazement, and Refia climbed up my sleeve and peered at me with a questioning look. I gave her a quick glance and stroked her back. "Unova really is the place where all kinds of people can come together, isn't it?" She let out a meow of agreement and hopped back to the ground. I removed myself from the walkway railing.

"Ready to go?" The sky was now lit up a bright blue, not a cloud in the sky, and the air was a bit warmer. I unzipped my jacket and we began to walk again. Despite myself, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Erin and Cyan held paws for the rest of the way there, and Refia conversed happily with Vivi. I turned forward and kept walking, a sparkle in my eyes.

By the time we finally made it to the other side of the bridge, it was already late morning. We went through the same process we had at the Nacrene end of the bridge, although this time I was scanning my Pokeballs and trainer's card to be able to leave the bridge instead of enter, and I kept Vivi and Refia inside their Pokeballs, as I figured that they'd likely get lost in the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Castelia City was by far the biggest city I'd ever traveled to. Skyscrapers everywhere. People in suits walked around all over, probably commuters from other cities in the region. What confounded me about this was how they got here so quickly; from what I could tell, you could only get here from the desert or the bridge. Maybe they had some kind of subway or something? Deciding to leave the thought alone for now, I dropped off my Pokemon at the Center and decided to explore the city by myself for a little while. I looked at the map the pamphlet had. Four streets led to the heart of the city.

"Let's see." I closed my eyes and placed a finger. Opening my eyes, I found my finger on Mode Street, which was right in front of me, and I walked down, ready for anything.

It was actually a rather dirty street, with some trash filling a dumpster nearby, and some mud filling in the cracks in the sidewalk. The buildings constantly had people going in and out of them, and I could hear music coming from some of the alleys. Noticing a line of people at a small stand, I got behind the last man in line and tapped his shoulder. He turned to me, an eager look plastered on his face.

"What's everyone here for?" His face changed from eager to incredulous, and he hastily described to me how this was the Castelia Ice stand, the best ice cream in Unova. I decided to wait in line to buy one, and I soon walked away towards one of the piers, a gleeful look on my face as I bit into my cone of mint chip ice cream. I thought it was too bad that the stand limited it to one cone per day, as I'm certain that my Pokemon would have liked some, but I guess that there was an economical reason for it - better to have a steady income than to sell all your ice cream in the morning.

I sat down at the pier, a boat docked at one of the sides, and continued to eat my ice cream. The Pidove flew around the area, chirping out songs and roosting in their nests under the docks, and the sound of the waves began to lull me into a trance. I leaned back, completely content... and then I felt a tapping on my shoulder.

"Huh?" I turned to see Burgh standing over me, his red scarf hanging loosely over his shoulder.

"I thought that might be you, Bill. I'm sure you're here at Castelia to challenge me?" I nodded. Of course... I thought that was obvious. He smiled grimly. "Sorry, but that'll have to wait. You're friends with that Bianca girl, right?" I nodded again. His grim smile drooped into a frown.

"Come with me. I have bad news." Curious, I polished off my ice cream cone and followed him to a different pier. Standing there was Bianca and a younger, tanned girl with ludicrously large purple hair. Bianca's face seemed to be slightly messy, and her eyes were red, probably from crying. I ran over to her.

"Bianca, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. She sniffled a little, and the tanned girl stomped her foot angrily.

"Those stupid knight-looking nerds stole her Pokemon!" My eyes narrowed.

"Plasma." I growled out. Bianca nodded.

"A bunch of Team Plasma's grunts took me by surprise and kidnapped Mirage..." I rubbed her back, noticing a brown-coated man and a Croagunk eyeing us. He looked familiar, but I didn't really care about asking who it was right now. I looked over to Burgh, who suddenly took off running.

"Bill! Follow me, we're on the trail!" Nodding firmly, I gave Bianca and the purple-haired girl a wave and dashed off with Burgh.

* * *

Walking out of the building where Burgh and I had confronted three of Team Plasma's Sages, Bianca and Iris crowed over the rescued Mirage, which turned out to be a Munna. Bianca hugged it happily, and I patted its head. It let out a big yawn, and I began to yawn myself. Bianca returned Mirage to its Pokeball, and I bid her goodbye, walking back to the Pokemon Center. I was glad that we had avoided a real Pokemon battle with Plasma (since my Pokemon were still back at the Center), although I, along with Iris, was miffed with Burgh that he had simply let the Sages go, but I reasoned that beggars couldn't be choosers.

Checking into one of the Pokemon Center's rooms, I flopped down on the bed, opting to let my Pokemon continue their peaceful rest in their Pokeballs for tonight. They'd need their strength for tomorrow's gym battle. I reached into my bag, which rested at the side of the bed, and took out a journal and pen. I clicked the top three times, then began to write down what had happened during the day. As soon as I had finished, I unstrapped my Pokegear and typed in a familiar number. I placed it to my ear and listened to it ring. A older woman answered.

"Bill?" I smiled, my eyes glinting mischievously. I raised my voice so that everyone on the other side could hear me.

"Hey, mom. It's me." I heard her screech over the phone, and an audible crash came through the speaker. All at once I heard a multitude of Pokemon calling into their side of the phone. I chuckled, and I heard her take the phone back and close the door to what I guessed was her bedroom.

"Sweetie! You sound well. How are you doing?" Her voice was a bit shaky, although after having almost twenty Pokemon scramble for a phone, there's no reason she wouldn't be.

"I'm fine, mom. I was mostly calling to see how everything is over there." I heard her fumble for something, and I heard something being snapped into another something.

"Honey, I'm using the videophone." I moved the Pokegear to the front of my face to look at her. She waved at me, and I waved back. "So, where are you now?"

We ended up chatting for the better part of an hour, mostly about how different Unova was from Johto, and how my Pokemon were doing. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, we were both thoroughly tired, and my mom let all my Pokemon wave to me over the videophone. Feeling content once again, I said goodbye and terminated the phone call, then reached over and let Cyan out of his Pokeball. He turned to me and let out a "Dewott?" I scritched his head, which he seemed to enjoy, and I wrapped him into a hug, laying back onto the bed. He hugged me back, and I rubbed his back, which elicited a pleased sort of purr from his throat. We stayed like that until we both drifted off to sleep, the contented purr staying in my mind.

* * *

We stood in front of the gym, the strange green stained-glass look of the building attracting all eyes and ears. Cyan and Erin stood behind me, smiling, determination burning in their eyes. I turned back to look at them. I flipped open my badge case and looked at the two slabs of metal, shining bright in the sunlight.

"Ready for this?" They nodded, the expression on their faces proving that they were up for anything. I smiled. We would have that badge, and nothing was going to get in our way.

I slapped the case closed.

"Then let's do it!"


	5. Nimbasa: A Wham Episode

I walked out of the Nimbasa City Pokemon Center, slightly woozy, with a silver-furred Minccino curled up on my head. I had just come back from catching Eiko on Route 16. She was a feisty one, her Cute Charm infatuating Cyan. That lead to a rather miffed (and that's putting it lightly) Erin, despite the fact that Eiko was probably years younger than her (and thus had no chance at wooing Cyan for real). She nearly caused Eiko to faint before I captured her, which is why I had sent her back into her ball to cool off. I would have probably stayed woozy had my Pokegear not rang. I took it out of my pocket, pressed the answer button, and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"You have a very nice ear!" A girl's voice answered. I pulled the phone away and looked into it, slightly embarrassed. Bianca's face was scrunched, attempting to stifle her laughter. I scratched the back of my head.

"Hey now, no need for that. I forgot that you and Cheren have XTransceivers." I remarked. She burst into giggles and raised her wrist, allowing me to see where she was. Behind her, eight color-cycling pillars stood tall and bright, a large neon sign that spelled out "MUSICAL" on top of the domed roof. I blinked.

"You're at the Musical Hall?" She nodded vigorously, and music began to boom out from inside the building, audible even from the Center. She did a 180, then looked back at me with an excited look.

"Meet me over here, quickly! I don't want to miss this!" The call abruptly ended, and I assumed that she had rushed inside the Hall so she could get a seat to see the Musical. I rubbed my chin (which was again growing stubble - I knew what I'd be doing later tonight), conflicted. I had wanted to check out the park, since I had heard the Gym was there. If I went to meet with Bianca, the Musical would take up the rest of the afternoon. I grunted, causing Eiko to yawn loudly, waking from her nap.

"It's times like these that I wish I had my Poketch - Coin Toss would be incredibly useful right now." Settling to use a penny instead, I flipped it. Heads, a Musical. Tails, call Bianca later and tell her I'm sorry I couldn't make it. The penny landed on the ground, making a ding. I picked it up. Heads. I slipped it back into my wallet and began to leisurely amble towards the Musical Hall.

When I made it, music was already playing loudly. Bianca was standing at the counter, and she waved me over. She cooed at Eiko, who was now wide awake, and they made acquaintances. My ears pricked up slightly - the sounds coming from the hall weren't a practiced song. It was more like-

"So they're still tuning the instruments." I said, thanking my good luck. She nodded, and fished her wallet out of her purse. She had opened it up when I closed it for her. She looked at me, and I winked back, holding up my own wallet.

"My treat." Before she could stop me, I had fished out a little money, slapping it on the counter with a loud 'whap!' "Two tickets, please." The attendant took the money and stashed it in the register, handing Bianca and I a ticket each. Bianca looked at me and gave me a cute smile as thanks.

"What a gentleman!" She blurted out, and I laughed. We both entered the seating area and found our seats. Bianca and I sat down, and Eiko hopped into my lap, squirming a bit before getting comfortable. After a few minutes, the lights dimmed, the audience hushed, and the curtains parted. Spotlights lit up the stage, revealing a backdrop designed to look like an ancient castle interior. A brighter light shifted towards stage right, and a yellow, spiky head meekly poked out from behind the wall. Bianca leaned forward intently to try and identify the figure, but I sat back, already knowing it was a Jolteon.

* * *

Low strings began to play as the Jolteon tentatively tiptoed out, done up in a forest-green cloak, a prop wooden sword strapped to its back. He walked with a casual gait, taking many turns and twists. As he walked, another Pokemon appeared from stage left. This time, it was a Audino, wearing a beautiful white gown and veil. She rushed out, as if running away from something, and ran into the wandering Jolteon, a cymbal crashing in the background. I winced at the noise.

The violin and cello grew louder as the princess silently apologized to the Jolteon, and she helped him up daintily. A voiceover began to sing over the music as the Audino mouthed words at the Jolteon.

"Oh! You must aid me, young traveler!" Her voice was soft and sweet, fitting for the part. The Jolteon cocked his head in confusion and spoke in a strong, middle-toned voice.

"What is the matter, my fair lady?" The Audino grabbed the Jolteon's mane, beginning to sob, and the Jolteon moved his head to comfort the crying girl.

"An ogre - he had locked me up! Kept me out of the world! Starved me!" The Audino became more and more distressed, eventually clinging to the Jolteon's mane and begging at her knees. "But I escaped, and he is chasing after me even now... you must aid me, sir!"

The Jolteon drew himself to his full height and spoke proudly. "Never fear, milady. Injustice shall never again have its way with you. I shall speak to this monster, and if he does not listen to reason, I shall strike him down with a single blow!" He drew his sword, wielding it in his mouth.

Suddenly, a roar issued from the back of the stage, causing more than a few members of the audience (including Bianca and Eiko) to gasp out in alarm. A Conkeldurr stomped out of the darkness, its two concrete blocks swapped for a more appropriate set of large, kingly scepters. A crown lay on his head, and a red cap swished, not very elegantly, on his back. He stepped towards the couple and slammed one of his scepters down, separating the couple.

"Trespasser! Criminal scum!" He growled, the voice a deep, thundering bass. The Jolteon sheltered the Audino behind his back. "You have no business here, and certainly no business with my princess!" The scepters slammed into the stage again, and he gestured towards the Audino.

"Leave this place and forget all that has happened, and I will spare your life. But..." The Conkeldurr had a mad glint in his eye. "If you foolishly dare to protect the girl, then you shall pay with your blood!" He swung one of his scepters in a wide arc, the Jolteon picking the Audino up and leaping over it. Horns and drums began to play, the music loud as the wanderer and the princess took turns avoiding the Conkeldurr's scepter sweeps.

After a long period of ducking and dodging, the Jolteon struck hard with his sword, making contact with the Conkeldurr's side. It roared and fell to its side, playing dead, and after a period of silence, the Audino embraced the Jolteon as thanks.

"Is milady all right now?" The Jolteon said. She nodded.

"Yes. Please, sir, will you let me accompany you on your journey?" The Jolteon nodded, and the pair exited the stage.

* * *

The curtain closed, and the lights returned. Bianca and I clapped along with the rest of the audience, Eiko jumping around wildly before leaping back onto my head. She must have loved it. As the crowd filed out of the hall, Bianca and I stopped in the lobby, and she spun around in a circle.

"That was great! Absolutely great!" Eiko seemed to agree, as she hopped off my head and did a little spin just like Bianca. We both laughed.

"I had to admit... it was a bit better than I expected." And I was telling the truth. I wasn't one for plays or musicals, so I had assumed that it would be decent but forgettable. It had ended up keeping my attention the entire time, which was definitely a plus in my book. Eiko suddenly yawned loudly, and wrapped herself up into a ball, her fluffy tail cushioning her as she immediately fell asleep. Checking my Pokegear, I found that it was already eight at night. I tapped Eiko's Pokeball on her head, and she disappeared. Bianca had already walked out, so I followed her. I walked out of the hall... and stopped in surprise. Bianca had done the same, and an older man stood in front of her.

"D-dad? What are you doing here?" She took a step back, and the man who was her father took a step forward. He had a look of frustration and... regret, maybe? Strange.

"I've come to take you home by any means necessary." He took another step forward, and I walked forward a bit to try and intercept him.

"Your mother told me that you had made it all the way here..." His face wrinkled in determination. "Bianca... gah, isn't this enough for you?" His voice was slightly louder that time, and he ran his hands through his hair. Bianca stood firm and shook her head.

"No! No way! I'm still on a journey..." I felt my arm get grabbed, and before I knew it Bianca had dragged me over to her. "A journey with Bill! A journey with Cheren! And... and with my Pokemon!" Her father ran his hard gaze over me, and I shivered. He meant business.

"So you're this... Bill... that Bianca's talked to her mother about?" I nodded.

"Y-yes, sir. I met both her and Cheren when we all got our starter Pokemon." He glared at me.

"Well, keep your nose out of this! This is a family matter, and you have no right to butt in!" He whipped back to Bianca, raising a shaky finger at her. "Bianca, all this traveling, all this so-called 'journeying'... it's completely and utterly..." His face turned red as he spat out the word. "Pointless! Here is here and home is home, and home is where you will be!" Bianca flinched as he yelled, and I felt my anger rise. I pointed a finger at him, resisting the urge to yell out a 'hold it!'

"Hey, what right do you have to dictate her life?" He gave me a passive glance - he wasn't taking me seriously at all.

"It's. None. Of. Your. Business." He turned again to Bianca, who now glared back at her dad.

"If here is here, and home is home... then I'm me! And you're you!" She waved a hand at her dad. "You're not going to take me home just because you want to!" Her father began to stride forward angrily, and Bianca, who I noticed had moved slightly behind me, stood her ground. He stopped when he got near me, and I stared at him. His face turned red again, and he began to yell in our faces.

"BIANCA!" Tiny drops of spittle hit my face, and I wiped it off on my sleeve. "I'm taking you home! Tonight! And that's FINAL!" He screamed at us, attracting a few curious passing eyes. He was about to reach behind me when a smooth, assertive voice came out of nowhere.

"Young lady... keep traveling."

We looked for the source of the voice, and I laid eyes on it first: a tall, slender woman with blonde hair in a bowl cut loped towards us with a calculated stride. She wore headphones, two cords drooping from them over her shoulders. Bianca's dad gave her a flat look.

"You're going to interject with your opinion too?" He lifted his hands into the air in mocking despair. "Oh, that's great. Let's just let all the yahoos that think they know something pop in and say something!" Despite myself, I smirked at bit at the sarcasm, but it was gone as quick as it came. The yellow-haired girl folded her arms, unamused.

"Call me Elesa." Bianca's eyes widened a bit, and I scratched my head, then snapped my fingers. I grabbed my badge case out of my bag and swung it open. My eyes widened as well, in surprise.

"You're... you're the town's gym leader!" She looked at me, and then looked at Bianca, who proceeded to pipe up, "And you're one of Unova's most famous models!" Elesa nodded at us, then turned to Bianca's father.

"The world is filled with all kinds of people." She began to pace in front of us, and I realized I had tensed up. "When there are people who don't think the same way you do... there may be times where you feel upset, or angry, or even helpless..." Bianca's father grabbed Kamisure's shoulders roughly, a new hope shining in his eyes.

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm trying to say! Ex-actly what I'm trying to say!" He turned to Bianca, but didn't move. "That's why I'm so worried about you! And that's why you're coming home!" He began to go forward, but a hand grabbed his arm. He turned his head. "Huh!"

Elesa looked into his eyes with what I could only assume was pity, and her voice had turned rather quiet. "As you meet people who think differently, the differences between you and them smooth out, become natural. You learn to value the fact that someone else is different. You learn to value your individuality. You learn to value your friends." Bianca's father didn't say anything, locked into Elesa's gaze.

"And even if you're worried, you can always remember that both people..." She turned him towards me, then back to her. "And Pokemon are there to help out a trainer, even in the toughest of situations. Even if..." Her eyes grew distant. "...Even if all they can do is provide comfort to you in a moment of crisis." She drew two Pokeballs from her belt, and opened them, releasing a pair of Emolga, who immediately nuzzled each other affectionately and hopped up on their trainer's shoulders.

"Pokemon may appear cute and cuddly," She rubbed one of the Emolga's cheeks, and it let out a cry of agreement. "But they are extremely dependable if you ask them for help. I would stake my gym on that." She broke her gaze from Bianca's father and looked at us.

"If you're traveling, stop by my gym. I'll give you a battle you won't soon forget." She turned around and began to walk away, then stopped and raised her hand. "Think about it." She then walked away, her shoes clacking against the pavement.

Bianca's father dropped his arms to his sides and simply stared. I looked at Bianca, who looked back at me, worry in her eyes. She took a step forward. "Dad..."

He turned around, and we found his eyes full of unshed tears. "Bianca... Oh, damn it all!" He grasped the air, his frustration boiling over. Bianca took another step forward. He spun around, pointing towards me, and I was startled to see him crying. "You... Bill, was it?" I nodded tentatively. "If... if Bianca ever asks for help... then promise me you'll help her." I opened my mouth to speak.

"I... You have my word, sir." He gave me a curt nod, then looked at Bianca.

"...I'm sorry, Bianca." He muttered, and he suddenly began to run off into the depths of the city, tears still flowing freely. Bianca began to chase after him, but he had disappeared. Bianca stood, shuddering, and I walked up. She turned to me, her eyes misty.

"Bill... meet up with me at the Pokemon Center." I nodded, giving her a smile and a thumbs-up, and she walked off to the Pokemon Center. I stood there for... I don't know how long, really. But soon the entirety of what had just happened hit me in full, and I felt the need to get away from it all. I looked around the city in a panic, trying to find someplace where I could think... and I remembered where I had wanted to go today in the first place. Silently, I began to run towards the park.

When I reached said park, the time had changed to nine at night, and the air was chilly. It was becoming more and more apparent to me how long I had already spent in Unova - the whole season of autumn and getting into the middle of winter. Soon, snow would start to come, and then spring again. I walked through the area, passing the clowns, passing the fountain, passing everything until I bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry-" I started. The man I had bumped into turned around, his green hair done up in a ponytail, a black-and-white baseball cap resting on his head. "N? What are you doing here?" He smiled at me, his strange eyes ever changing with emotions.

"I was about to take a ride on the ferris wheel... C'mon, join me!" I backed up a bit, my hands outstretched, and he stepped towards me.

"Woah... uh... no thanks, N, that's fine, just go by yourself." I kept back up, but he kept moving forward. What was with this guy, anyway?

"What's wrong?" He tilted his head slightly, and frowned. "The ferris wheel isn't going to eat you, you know. It'll be fun!" Before I could say anything more, he grabbed my hand and dragged me onto one of the wheel's cars. I've gotta say, for such a skinny guy, he's pretty strong.

Most of the ride I spent sitting down in the car, trying not to look out the window and gulp. N stayed standing, grasping the railing, eyes looking down at the world below us. After what seemed like hours in there, he turned to me.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I looked up at him, and sighed.

"You know what, today has been so ridiculous that I don't think any secret of yours can top what's already happened. So, go ahead." I said. He sat down next to me and began to toy with his menger sponge.

"Let me start from the beginning then." He sat up a bit straighter. "I am the king of Team Plasma."

I looked back at him, surprised, and then began to laugh. I... honestly wasn't surprised in the least. I had noticed it from the beginning - his similarities to Plasma's goals, his habit of befriending Pokemon... somehow it all made sense. Hell, he even had the same hair as Ghetsis, so that was a big hint too. My laughter soon died out, and we were silent. He stood up and folded his arms across the railing, hunched over. Despite myself, I stood up as well, staring out at the city from the highest point of the wheel. N didn't speak for a while, and neither did I.

"Ghetsis asked me to help him save Pokemon with him together. I agree with him entirely - Pokemon and humans need to be separated." I stayed silent, letting him pour out his feelings to me. "People don't treat Pokemon with the respect they deserve. Pokemon are abused by humans, Pokemon are hurt by humans..." His voice was very hard, shocking me. He had never shown this much... anger before.

No, it wasn't anger, nor frustration. It was... something else. Something even stronger.

Maybe... it was determination.

"I wonder... how many Pokemon exist in the world?" At this, I smiled and tapped his shoulder. He looked at me.

"I've worked with people, studying Pokemon before, helping them record species. I could answer that question for you." He smiled at me knowingly, and raised his arms wide.

"You know every Pokemon? Every single one that might exist in the entire world?" I was about to answer when I realized what he was getting at. Slowly, I began to speak.

"...No. No, I don't. You're right, N, and I don't think anyone will know in one lifetime." He nodded at me, but I wasn't done yet. "But... we should spend what time we have with our friends, be they people or Pokemon... right?" His smile grew wide, and he nodded. By now, our ride had ended, and we both stepped out into the very cold night air. He turned to me, his voice growing hard again.

"Bill, hear me. You can't talk my out of my plans for people and Pokemon." I nodded, and he nodded as well. "I will surpass the champion. I will become the strongest person in Unova. And if you're thinking about stopping me... then earn all eight gym badges and meet me at the League. Only then can we settle this." And before I knew it, he had disappeared. I stood there for a while, thinking about what N had told me. To surpass the Champion... it certainly wasn't impossible - I had done it a few times before, and with N's drive, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled it off too. But... I still had to stop him. Stashing the thought in the corner of my mind, I began to walk to the Pokemon Center. I had a meeting, after all.


	6. Interlude: Dangers of Curiosity

I let out a heaving sigh and sat down, my Pokemon sleeping around me. The uncomfortable brown chair, made of some strange plastic or polymer, squeaked as I leaned back into it, and I cross my legs, poring through a book I had borrowed from Lenora's husband. Eiko snored on top of my head and drooled a little bit; thankfully, the towel I was wearing over my head sopped it up.

I had returned to Nacrene City, which had taken about two weeks of traveling. When you didn't get distracted by civilization's diversions, it was quite easy to move, especially with my shiny new bike I had bought back in Nimbasa. I already had a bike back at home in New Bark (although I will admit that it was from when I was around ten, so it was far too small for me), but Unova's importation and exportation laws had disallowed me from bringing it with me on the flight to Nuvema Town – and, admittedly, it was probably good and careful on their part.

The reason I had come back to Nacrene, specifically the museum, was due to a discovery I had made with another traveler in the Resort Desert (which made me wish that I had remembered my Go-Goggles). We had traveled together, me mostly for training my team for the battle with Elesa, and him simply for the sake of adventuring. He had some Pokemon on him, but he never offered to battle me.

Anyway, we had ended up finding a large building in the desert, hewn from stone and glued by clay. We had both entered and explored the building, finding that it had multiple stories, and we both ended up finding a pair of rare fossils – one with the imprint of a small wing, the other with a preserved part of a shell's lid. I theorized that they were the fossils of ancient Pidove and Squirtle, but my friend shot it down, mentioning that Pidove weren't described to habituate in the Unova desert in ancient times, and Squirtle didn't even live in Unova at all. Conceding to his likely-greater knowledge, I grew excited to find out what the fossils were. We each decided to take one; he took the lid fossil, I took the wing fossil.

Now, I had both journeyed with Pokemon and worked with the Professors long enough to know about the fossil regeneration technology. It was all the rage when I started my first journey through Kanto – some scientist in Cinnabar Island had managed to crack the secret of Revives enough to be able to create a machine to do so with fossils. Of course, by now (years later), it was quite common to see a fossil regenerator in a museum. You could almost call them standard-issue tech and nobody would say otherwise.

Of course, the problem with the machines (ones that still persisted today) was that they took incredibly long to use. Professor Rowan, being an expert on Pokemon evolution (and, by extension, pre-evolution), had once described to me the process of how it worked. It boggled my mind at the time (almost as much as Magnemites did when I was a child). Apparently, the DNA preserved inside the fossil was drawn out using mining lasers (to remove any layers that kept the DNA hidden) and a miniscule syringe (to retrieve it), then it was injected into a replicator, which sped up the process of reproduction and egg-hatching, and suddenly you had a Pokemon. Rowan had never let me see the process, mentioning that the machine was only operable by official licensed scientists, but I had never really cared.

Glancing up from the book, I looked at my Pokegear. The time said almost midnight, six hours after we arrived here. Just seeing the time made me feel exhausted. Eiko was still drooling, and I picked her and the towel up and placed her in the neighboring seat. Cyan and Erin slept in a strange combination of a hug and a fetal position, and they whispered in their language softly. It was rather cute. Vivi slept on top of Refia, who had laid her head on my lap, her lithe frame fitting snugly under the hand-rest. I was about to go back to the book when I heard a familiar dinging chime, and I quickly (but carefully) removed Refia's head from my lap and stood up. I needn't have bothered anyway, as the chime woke up my Pokemon, who yawned, rubbed the sleep from their eyes, and stood up as well, staring at the door in anticipation.

It slid open, and Lenora's husband walked out, cradling the bottom-half of an eggshell. He handed it to me, and I very carefully took it, peering into the bowl-shaped shell. Inside was a yellow bird, with splashes of blue on his head-feathers, wings, and tail, and a deep red stained his lower body, head, and beak. It let out an odd, slightly-screechy cry and hid itself in its wings, asleep within seconds.

"You found the fossil of an _archenteryx setzeratus_, or as they're typically called now, Archen." Lenora's husband stated. "They've got wings, all right, but they can't fly with them. Back in the day, they hopped around and hunted for predators at ground level."

I looked again at the small bird. Its wings did seem rather weak; even though the Archen was snuggling up in them, they hung limply under its head. Despite the fact that this would probably be a hindrance later on, I smiled.

"_Archenteryx setzeratus_, eh?" I stroked his head with a finger. "Well, welcome to the team, then, Setzer."

* * *

"What! You caught an Archen!"

Yells of excitement issued from my Pokegear, and I nodded at Juniper and Cheren on the videophone. Juniper's eyes sparkled with curiosity, while Cheren suddenly disappeared from view. I could hear him growling in disappointment, and I guessed that he was probably flailing about – quite a difference from the first impression he let on.

"How is he? Are you feeding him the right foods? Are you making sure he's well-training? Is he getting along with your other Pokemon? Has he…" Juniper began to drown me in questions, and I attempted to calm her down.

"Professor…" No change. "Professor!" Still no change. "Professor, stop asking questions!" I yelled, and she finally shushed. I moved my Pokegear to my shoulder, where I had perched Setzer. He looked into the screen and let out a greeting chirp. Cheren, who had returned to viewing his XTransceiver, groaned slightly at the sight, while Juniper let out a loud "Woohoo!"

"So you really did find an Unova fossil. Lucky you." Cheren huffed, and he began to pout slightly before turning his attention to something else, away from the phone. "Bill, Professor, I just saw a strangely-colored Pokemon. I'm going to check it out. Talk to you later." His screen turned to black, and Juniper began to grump.

"Darn, I was going to ask him about his Servine… Oh well. Bill, take good care of that Archen!" She moved her hand to switch off her videophone.

"Professor, can I ask something?" She stopped.

"Certainly, Bill. What is it?"

"I know I found the fossil in the Resort Desert, but… Setzer doesn't seem like a desert bird. Where did Archen first originate?" She grabbed a pile of papers and began to flip through them. After a few minutes, she plucked a sheet from the pile and began to read from it.

"_Archenteryx setzeratus_, shortened to Archen. Flightless bird, dual-typed as a Rock and Flying type. Only obtainable via fossil revivification, fossils normally uncovered in the Resort Desert. It looks like the desert is where they were born after all, Bill." I nodded, said goodbye, and ended the conversation.

It had been about three days since Setzer had been revived, and he had taken enormously to the team, and to life in general. Then again, after being a fossil for who-knows-how-long, life would be a welcome blessing, I think. He was fascinated by everything, but not to the point that Vivi was, and had attempted to make friends with the rest of the team. He got along well with Cyan and Erin, but he was wary of them during their training, since he was weak to their attacks due to his typing. He disliked Refia, although I assumed that that was due to the natural rivalry between birds and cats. Eiko he liked somewhat, but I could tell that he (along with everyone else) found her boundless energy quite tiresome.

Vivi, however, he seemed to share a brotherly bond with. I guessed that this was due to their curiosity, but it seemed more like… well, less of a brotherly bond and more of a balance of a person. Where Vivi was overly curious, Setzer would rein him in; where Setzer was rough-and-tumble, Vivi would temper it with a hug. At times, it seemed to border on a comedy act, like Dia and Pearl's routine that traveled around Sinnoh. It was quite charming.

Deciding I had traveled enough for one day (it wasn't anywhere near sunset, but it was a prime camping spot), I dropped my messenger bag onto the grass and pulled out a blanket, as well as a portable cooking kit. I pulled out five Pokeballs and tossed them all, letting the Pokemon within out to stretch their legs.

"We're stopping here for today, guys." I sat down and grabbed a can of beans, while Vivi used his Flame Burst to make a small campfire. Setting the folding pot on a grate from the kit, I dumped in the contents of the can and let them cook.

"You're free for the day. Do what you like, but don't be late for dinner!" I smiled cheerfully at them, and the six of them all scampered off to do whatever they felt like doing.

* * *

Setzer and Vivi hopped through Pinwheel Forest, the deep green trees blocking out the sunlight, making it seem rather dusky. Despite this, the air was dry and crisp, fitting due to the coming winter. It was quite muddy, and each step the pair took left a deep track in the dirt, causing them to stop occasionally and wipe off their feet. Vivi bounced along happily, while Setzer lagged behind, shivering a little. He heard a noise behind him and let out a short "eep!", then began to hop faster to catch up with Vivi.

"I don't like this place, Vivi." Setzer stated matter-of-factly. "It's cold, it's kinda dark, and it's full of..." He shook his head. "Things I can't see." Vivi turned around to face Setzer, but continued to bounce backwards, something that caught Setzer's eye.

"Oh, come on, Setzer. I've been here plenty of times with mister Bill, there's nothing to worry about in here!" As if to try and show off his confidence (or, as Setzer later put it, arrogance), Vivi did a strong backflip and landed on his left foot in a pose. "Besides, the only Pokemon around here are bug-types and grass-types, and we're both strong against those!" Setzer only gave a nervous nod.

Vivi turned around and stopped suddenly, causing Setzer to bump into him. Setzer flopped onto his back, flailing his wings and talons.

"Hey! Vivi! Help me up!" Vivi toddled over and grasped Setzer's wings, helping him back to his feet, and dusted off Setzer's back. Setzer looked behind him, then looked at his front, and chuckled slightly. "Well, I guess I'm all right. Thanks, Vivi!"

Vivi wasn't listening - his full attention was at a dead-end dirt wall they had found. It was slightly reddish-colored, indicating that some of the dirt was actually clay. Setzer looked closer. Hidden, in a small area where a bit of clay had been knocked loose, was a hole leading through the barrier. Quickly spinning around, Vivi's eyes sparkled with wonder, his tail wagging back and forth in excitement. Setzer grew even more nervous. He knew this look.

"Setzer! Look what we found! We found a cave! And I bet nobody's been looking through it before!" Vivi began to hop up and down triumphantly, letting out a loud whooping yell. Setzer folded his wings to his sides and grunted in thought.

"Vivi, what makes you think it's never been explored before? Surely some passing trainer or Pokemon must have found it. And... you're not planning on exploring it, are you?" Setzer beat around the bush. Vivi answered his question by picking up a stick and lighting it on fire. He brandished it like a sword and held it high in the air.

"We'll explore this cave and claim it in the name of Vivi and Setzer! Are you with me?" Setzer didn't get to answer, as Vivi had already dashed into the cave. Setzer sighed, then followed him in.

The place was very murky and wet, and it would have been extremely cold had Vivi not increased his body temperature to keep them both warm. Their makeshift torch gave the cave an eerie, orange-gray lighting, which did nothing to help Setzer's nervousness. Winds blew through the cave, causing a whooshing ambience that even freaked Vivi out slightly.

"U-uhh... Vivi, can we g-go back?" Setzer asked Vivi, the nervous stutter heavy in his voice. Vivi turned around and swung his torch in a wide arc, causing Setzer to hop back to avoid getting hit.

"Of course not! We'll explore this whole cave, and then we'll tell everyone else about it! We can be brave! We can do this!" He swung his torch again, not noticing, due to his walking backwards, that he was about to trip over a bump in the stone. Setzer dashed forward.

"Vivi, look out!" Vivi turned around. His eyes widened, and he stopped in his tracks.

But Setzer crashed into him, knocking them both to the floor. The torch flew out of Vivi's paw and landed on the wet stone nearby. Setzer stared at it, and Vivi looked up in horror. Before either of them could get up and grab the torch, it was extinguished by water that dropped from a stalactite on the ceiling. Instantly, the cavern was once again enveloped in darkness, the air very still and tense. Vivi felt Setzer hop off of him, and he stood up, attempting to wipe the moistness from his body. He could tell, despite the fact that he couldn't see him, that Setzer was shaking uncontrollably.

"V-v-v-Vivi... p-please can we g-g-go h-home?" Setzer managed to stammer out, and Vivi nodded in agreement, trying not to show his own nervousness.

"Y-yeah, let's g-get outta here." The two groped for each other, paw and wing, to keep together, and they began to wander aimlessly through the darkness. It didn't last long, however, as the pair froze when they heard a growl behind them. They inched around, bit by bit, and Vivi blew a Flame Burst to see what was making the noise. They both screamed in terror as the creature thwacked them, knocking them through the wall of the cave, back into the forest. Before they could be attacked further, they shot off like rockets through the forest, and the creature followed them.

* * *

I put my fingers in my mouth, licking off the sauce of the now cooked beans, and blew twice, letting out a shrill whistle that could be heard for miles. I took the pot off of the now dim fire, and poured out a little of its contents into six bright red bowls. The rest of the beans I left in the pot, and I placed it on the ground and began to dig in with my stirring spoon - not very polite to start without company, but I was hungry. Soon enough, four Pokemon came running out of nowhere, leaping towards their bowls and chowing down hungrily. Soon enough, the food was gone, and we sat back, sighing.

The smell of beans still wafted into my nostrils, and I looked over. Setzer and Vivi's bowls were not only untouched, but unattended. I groaned - that meant that Vivi, at least, had gotten lost (as was par for the course when I let him run freely), and it was likely that he had dragged Setzer along with him. I snapped my fingers, and Cyan turned away from talking with Erin to look towards me, his stone pendant swaying on his chest.

"Typical... why didn't I see it coming. Cyan, we're going monkey-and-bird hunting." He drew his swordshells and muttered a "FuDewott..." in disappointment. We were about to walk into the forest when we heard a loud roar, startling all of us, and Setzer and Vivi dashed out of the undergrowth, screaming and crying. Unfortunately for the both of them, they tripped in their haste, with Setzer flying into Eiko and Vivi landing right in his food bowl. A Sawk followed, letting out another yell and jumped into a martial-arts form that I couldn't name off the top of my head. Cyan took a defensive stance to counter.

"Cyan! Razor Shell, now!" I barked out, and Cyan zoomed forward. The Sawk stepped back, winding up a kick, but Cyan deftly rolled around him and bounced upwards, swordshells digging deeply into the Sawk's unguarded back. It let out a surprised cry and crumpled, falling to one knee, its heavy breathing signifying a critical blow. I pumped my fist, and Cyan returned to my side, still ready for an attack. The Sawk, however, had other plans, as it raised a hand, stood up, and limped back into the forest.

Vivi had calmed down considerably during the ordeal and was now wolfing down his beans, ignoring the others questions. Setzer, however, was still curled up into a lump of feathers, sobbing, and I slowly scooped him up and held him to my chest. I slowly rocked him, letting him cry into my jacket, which was finally beginning to show some wear-and-tear from the adventuring. Setzer cried and cried, squawking softly, and Eiko scrambled up onto my arm to see what was the matter. She patted Setzer and hugged him, and she began to sing into his ear. Soon enough, Setzer was asleep, and I returned him to his ball. I nodded towards Cyan, who was looking up at me expectantly.

"Good job, Cyan. Oh, and would you watch over the team tonight? I think I need to go to bed early." He gave me a confident smile and a thumbs-up, and I walked over to my blanket. Wrapping it around myself, I attempted to drift off to sleep. I could hear Cyan, Erin, and the rest grilling Vivi about whatever had happened, and I let my mind run over a single thought about Vivi's antics. Maybe it was time to use that Fire Stone after all.


	7. Driftveil: Closer Shave

The sounds of battle echoed throughout the cavern, the harsh noise persuading many a wild Pokemon to retreat to safer areas. The Gigalith slammed onto the ground on the cave as it sent a cluster of sharp rocks at Cyan and Erin, and let out a hollow groan of frustration as the Stone Edge collided with the ground, Cyan and Erin having back-dashed to avoid the attack. Erin rolled to the right as I began to bark out an order.

"Cyan, see if you can shoot off an Ice Beam to freeze it! Erin, distract Gigalith so that it doesn't bother Cyan!" Erin nodded and let out a yell of "Jofuu!" at the Gigalith, and as it turned to face her, she stuck out her tongue and made a gesture that I assumed was akin to flipping someone off. I swear that if it was human, the Gigalith would have turned scarlet with rage, and it began to roar at Erin as it sent cluster after cluster of Stone Edges at the nimble Fighting type. Cyan, on the other hand, had dashed over to a more open area where he could stay back and charge up an Ice Beam.

We had finally beaten Elesa, and in short order had also beaten Clay, the leader of Driftveil City, earning me and my team both the Bolt Badge and the Quake Badge. We had taken a rest in Driftveil to train and readjust, and soon decided to head for Mistralton City, which was through the Thunderstone Cave. I had only just set foot in there when I had been pounced by a wild Gigalith. I had been confused at first, seeing as Gigalith were only obtainable via a trading evolution (something that even Rowan had yet to explain), but it had dawned on me very quickly that it must have been a lost or abandoned Pokemon. Considering how much trouble it was giving me and my team, I don't see why its trainer would have abandoned it - it was extremely powerful.

"Mien!" Erin cried, and I snapped back to reality, swiveling on my heel to look at the source of the noise. I cringed as I saw a particularly large cluster of rock cut through the air straight towards her.

"Erin, Force Palm! Hit the rocks!" Erin took a step back and hummed for a moment, her fist beginning to glow with energy. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she thrust forward, letting the energy collide with the Stone Edge, which collapsed into a cloud of dust and gravel. Erin dashed out of the rubble towards me, slightly winded but otherwise unharmed. The Gigalith turned its head towards a bright blue light, and charged towards Cyan, who was in the middle of readying Ice Beam.

"Cyan! Look out!" I called at him, and he stared defiantly at the stampeding stone Pokemon, drawing both his shells and holding them out in a defensive pose. It did little to help, however, as the Gigalith's strong tackle knocked Cyan into the wall, missing me by about a meter or two. He screamed, and I saw the telltale flash of an Ice Beam, but no attack fired out. He slid down onto the ground, and I soon saw what had happened: the attack had collided onto his swordshells, freezing their edges to an icy white color. The Gigalith let out what probably passed for a chuckle and eyed Cyan. As I looked at it, I was startled to see the almost-homicidal look in the Gigalith's face. Erin dashed over to me, looked at Cyan with worry, then concentrated on the Rock type, which had begun to stand on its hind legs.

"What the hell is it doing...?" I thought aloud, as it began to cry out in effort. I didn't have long to wonder, as it slammed its front feet down hard on the ground.

For a moment, nothing happened. And then, the cave began to shake.

Erin and I yelled out in surprise as the world around us trembled violently, and I shifted my body weight around, trying hard to not pass out from the sheer magnitude of the earthquake that the Gigalith was causing. Amidst the rumbling, I could clearly see the Gigalith repeatedly pounding on the ground, causing the earthquake to grow more and more powerful. The earth underneath me gave a heave, and I felt myself fall to my knees. After what seemed like hours, the earthquake finally ceased. I shuddered, trying to catch my breath, and after a moment, I stood, my legs weak. But it wasn't over yet. The Gigalith stomped one more time, but there was no quake to knock me off my feet this time.

Instead, there was an ominous cracking noise above our heads. Cyan, Erin and I all looked up, and I gasped.

An extremely large, extremely pointy, and extremely unstable stalagtite had made its home right over where Cyan now rested, still weakened from the Gigalith's knock-down. And the cracking noise that it made soon resulted in the inevitable.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I watched the thing missile towards Cyan. I wanted to move and save him like I did in Nacrene with the shockwave, but the earthquake had sapped my energy, and I stood there, my legs as heavy as iron. The only thing that I could hear was the cruel laughter of the Gigalith reverberating off the cavern walls, drowning out the sounds of the electric current in the air... it was laughing at us... it was laughing at me. Then I saw a blur of yellow run past me, and I felt my arm reach out and a worried cry escape my mouth. "Erin!"

I watched her run towards Cyan, her fist glowing with the light of a Force Palm, and she leapt out at him with all her might, launching him away from the danger and into the other wall. She looked up and her eyes widened. Suddenly, my strength returned and I dashed forward to stop her. Too late.

The stalagtite finally made contact with a target, and I heard Erin scream in pain for a single second, even drowning out the Gigalith's laughter, and then she was silent. Cyan and I both stared at the area where she was, and as the area became visible, we saw a shard of the stone... and Erin's body, spread out onto her back, unmoving. Cyan's eyes narrowed, and he gave a great jump, landing near me. My own shock gave way to an incredible, unbridled hate, a feeling I had only remembered knowing twice before in my life, and I turned towards the Gigalith, my fist shaking in rage as I yelled out a command to Cyan.

"Cyan!... Razor Shell!" Cyan pounced at the Gigalith, letting out an unearthly warcry as his twin swordshells glowed, not with the sea blue light of water, but with a harsh turquoise light, the cold of the Ice Beam empowering the weapons. The Gigalith only had time to watch as Cyan's shells collided with its face. It gave a groan of pain, but Cyan wasn't finished, as he followed up with a slash to each of its four legs, incapacitating it. The Rock type groaned louder in pain, but continued to stare at me with its homicidal leer. Cyan leapt onto its back and placed his shells to its neck, execution-style, and slashed one last time. Giving a muffled gurgle, the Pokemon fell down, utterly defeated.

Cyan returned to my side, and we both stared at the now-most-likely corpse of the Pokemon for a moment, savoring the taste of its defeat. However, a sudden jolt of static broke me out of the trance, and I felt my hate give way into worry as I ran over to Erin, looking over her mangled frame. My eyes widened in horror as I saw the damage - the stalagtite's tip had gone deep into her shoulder, and a copious amount of blood was leaking out despite the wound being untouched. I ripped my jacket off and wrapped Erin up in it, making sure to disturb her as little as possible.

"Cyan! C'mon! We have to get to the Pokemon Center!" I didn't wait to check if Cyan was following me, as my feet began to pound against the floor of the cavern, the blood pumping in my ears. The blue stone tunnel eventually gave way to the grassy plain just outside of Driftveil, and I practically flew into and through the town.

The nurse turned to look at me as I jogged into the Center, and I saw her arm move towards a button on her side of the counter, used to call for an emergency stretcher in case the normal healing device wasn't enough. She bounded over the counter and took Erin out of my hands, laying her and my jacket onto the floor. She took in the sight for a brief second, then began to feel around Erin's shoulder, murmuring to herself.

"A stone tip piercing the shoulder... large amount of blood loss, may have reached the bone..." She looked up at me, her soft eyes clashing with the steel in her voice. "Tell me how this happened. Now."

I explained to her about the abandoned Gigalith and how she had protected Cyan from the stalagtite, and I felt Cyan look out from behind my leg, something he hadn't done since he was an Oshawott. His eyes widened and he stepped out, looking at Erin with a guilty expression on his face. A door near the counter opened, and two Audino stepped out, pushing along an emergency stretcher as I had guessed. The nurse gingerly lifted Erin off my jacket and onto the stretcher, and gestured towards the Audino, who shot off like rockets with the stretcher to an emergency room in the back of the Center, and Cyan reached towards them with a "Dewott!" of surprise. The nurse gave Cyan a pitying look, then turned towards me, the steely voice cracking a bit with concern.

"I regret that I think I might know the Gigalith you're talking about... just a few weeks ago an older man came in to get a Gigalith healed... he treated it very harshly and threatened to release it if it didn't 'shape up'. I did talk to the trainer about his behavior towards it, but..." She sighed, and I sighed too.

"So it was an abandoned Pokemon after all..." My eyes closed in disappointment. I had heard (and known) a few people who were abusive enough to their Pokemon that they would release them if they didn't meet their expectations, but... I never thought that it would have that much of an effect on the Pokemon. The nurse cleared her throat, and I looked at her again.

"I'll do everything I can to help your Mienfoo. You have my word as a nurse on that." She spun on her heel and dashed off into the emergency corridor, likely going to the same room the Audino had gone to, leaving Cyan and I alone in the main room. Slowly, I grasped my jacket, now sticky with Erin's blood, and looked it over. Once. I retched at the sight of the enormous bloodstain, and promptly crumpled it up and dumped it into the trash can. After it disappeared from sight, I inhaled deeply and sat down in a chair, suddenly overwhelmed by what had just happened to me. Cyan hopped into my lap, and I looked at him with tired eyes. His eyes, however, were watery, and I felt him cling tightly to my chest, muffled sobs vibrating in my chest. I sat there dumbly for a while, as Cyan cried his heart out into my shirt, something he hadn't done since he was an Oshawott. Then I wrapped him up into a hug, slowly moving my hand up and down his back, which only caused him to cry even harder. And in the silence and solitude of the Pokemon Center, since I couldn't think of any other way to keep him company, I cried with him, too.

* * *

We stayed there for what was most likely hours, just crying to ourselves. I didn't notice if anyone else came into the center, and honestly I really just didn't care. If any did, the sadsack sight that Cyan and I made probably scared 'em off... and if we didn't, the fact that the nurse was still occupied with Erin did. By the time Cyan had finally stopped crying, night had fallen, and we both sat in neighboring chairs, silent and tense with anticipation. So much anticipation, in fact, that we nearly jumped ten feet in the air when we finally heard the trademark jingle of the Pokemon Center. I stood stock still, waiting for the door to open, and Cyan trembled in anxiety.

The door slid open to reveal the nurse, wheeling out the stretcher, and Cyan and I walked over to take a look at Erin. She was hooked up to a few cables, and her arm was encased in a splint, but other than that she was sleeping peacefully. I exhaled in relief, and Cyan slumped over onto my leg, his relief probably far greater than mine. The nurse gave me a faint smile and tapped my shoulder.

"You ought to feel very, very lucky... if it had been your Dewott instead of your Mienfoo, you'd have one less Pokemon with you tonight." My head shot up, and Cyan gasped out a "Wott!". The nurse nodded, her eyes glinting. "Your Mienfoo happens to have the rare 'Regeneration' ability, which greatly increases the speed of its natural healing factor. Normally a wound like that would either have killed her or, if she was lucky, would have kept her in that splint for at least half a year - with her regeneration ability, she'll only have to spend about two months in it instead." My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, but my surprise was gone as quick as it came, and I very carefully picked Erin up.

"It's pretty obvious that she shouldn't be battling in the time she's got her splint, but what else should I do for her?" The nurse turned to a trainer who had just walked in, told him to wait just a second, then looked back at me.

"All she really needs is rest and relaxation, and yes, don't put too much stress on that arm. Otherwise, she should be fine." I nodded my head over and over in thanks, and she gave me a smile, handed me a room key, and turned to take care of the other trainer. I quickly vacated the main area and went to my room, flicking on the light and placing Erin on the bed. Cyan sniffed a little, and I picked him up and hugged him tight.

"We're very lucky, buddy." I didn't notice it at first, but it was the first time I had called Cyan 'buddy'. I put him down and he looked up at me with a pleading stare on his face, and I patted his head.

"If you want to stay here all night and look after Erin, you're welcome to do so." I paused, thinking for a moment, then smiled warmly. "And if you think that you might tell her how you feel when she wakes up, then go for it." Cyan yelped in surprise and he blushed heavily, turning his face a deep purple. I laughed at him for a moment and knelt down, taking his paws into my hands.

"To answer what you're probably thinking right now, yes, I knew about it. They way you two interacted, ever since... Sanyou... just made it perfectly clear to me." I thought back to Nicole and Crescendo, and their little son Dante, all back home in Johto. "And... you're not the first Pokemon to fall in love with a teammate. It's happened to me before. I know what to look for."

He took all this in intently, quiet, but I could see the determination filling into his eyes. I gave him one more pat on the head and whispered, "You can do it, buddy." I then keeled over onto the couch and closed my eye, keeping the other open slightly to watch Cyan. He climbed up on the bed, looked at me, kissed Erin's cheek, and then wrapped her into a hug and fell asleep. And soon, I drifted off too.


	8. Mistralton: Time with Friends

I breathed in the morning air, the bright sun winking out from behind the trees. A tiny plume of mist erupted from my mouth as I exhaled, and I shivered a little, pulling my jacket tighter. I felt a few hands on my pantleg, and I looked down to see Cyan tugged on me, and I looked where he pointed at Erin, who was slowly following behind us. I stopped and let her catch up, and I then carefully picked her up and put her on my right shoulder so she could lean on my head. Cyan looked and gave a satisfied nod, and we both trudged through the snow once again.

After the previous… incident in Thunderstone Cave… and a subsequent buying of some warm clothes, I encountered a large group of Team Plasma's goons and spoke with N once again. A few hours after that, I had found my way out of Thunderstone Cave. The area around its other exit was thick with trees, but it wasn't marked as a forest in the Pokedex, which I found odd. I hoped that this meant that we'd get to Mistralton City before long, but-

A loud, roaring noise broke me out of my thoughts, startling Erin enough that she toppled off my shoulder. Cyan caught her before she could hit the ground, and he was about to scold me when the source of the noise appeared above our heads, its shadow zooming past us. Looking up, I saw a small, but oddly pudgy-looking, airplane zip past the tips of the trees, and after a couple seconds, the familiar sound of screeching rubber could be heard a short distance away. I broke into a grin and ran the same path that the plane had taken, Cyan following behind me while carrying Erin, and I felt the snow-covered dirt change to lightly-dusted concrete as we exited the woods. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and began to walk much slower, taking in the sight.

"Finally… Mistralton City." It wasn't as big as Castelia (definitely not), and it didn't seem to be as populated as Driftveil, but it was certainly just as busy as both. From left to right of where I was, I could see children and Pokemon building snowmen, then a large runway that was now occupied by the plane we had seen before, then a tall building with a red roof, then a man handing some toddlers a bag of popcorn, then the trees of the town that were covered in lights, then a small circle of shops that were decorated for the Christmas holidays. My eyes flashed as the gears in my mind processed all this.

"Oh wow, I completely forgot it was Christmas Eve today." My grin widened at this information – despite the commercializing, Christmas was always fun. However, I shook my head to get my priorities straight. I turned to a passing man and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir, could you tell me where…" I dropped off. "Cheren?"

He looked at me in silence, his arms crossed, and James the Servine did the same, raising his head high. I looked him over as well: he didn't look at all different – he didn't even have on a coat to keep him warm. His lips twitched into the semblance of a smile, and he thumbed behind his back, at the tall, red-roofed building.

"I expect a battle later." My eyes narrowed in determination, and I chuckled.

"Sure thing." He walked off, entering one of the stores nearby, and I headed straight for the Pokemon Center. The sign in front said 'Pokemon Center/Mistralton Hotel', and I realized that the Center probably also harbored the people who arrived at the airport. As I entered, I noticed someone in front of me at the counter, and I walked up behind them and began to wait, tapping my foot. Cyan and Erin, on the other hand, yelped out in surprise and began to talk to the trainer's Pignite. The girl in front of me turned around, and I gasped lightly in surprise as yet another familiar face appeared in front of me. She let out a cry of joy and hopped up and down in excitement.

"Bill! Bill! You made it!" I broke into a smile at her antics, and I ran a hand through my hair, chuckling. A few other trainers gave us both strange looks, but they continued on their way. I waited for Bianca to calm down, tapping my foot in slight impatience, and she began to get the message after a few minutes. Exhaling a deep breath, she composed herself and looked straight at me.

"So you got to Mistralton in time for Christmas!" I nodded, looking over her new outfit. Compared to Cheren, Bianca looked like a completely different person, wearing a big, heavy coat of white-and-green, and a pair of earmuffs peeked out from under her beret. Along with that, her light stockings had been traded out for a pair of woolen socks, and her boots rounded out her winter apparel. I guess I took longer than I thought in looking over her, since she did a little spin and giggled at me.

"Like what you see?" I blushed a little bit, not expecting that, but it was gone before I even knew it was there, my mind passing over a different girl than Bianca, then switching back to the there and now. I let out a light chuckle and shrugged.

"If you want to take it that way, then sure." I snapped my fingers. "Speaking of which…" I took my Pokegear out of my pocket and switched it into textphone mode, quickly tapping out a message. Bianca looked over my shoulder at this, trying to see what I was doing, and I let her look. Dusty the Pignite, Cyan, and Erin all craned their necks to get a better look, but they couldn't see and returned to their own conversation. I scrolled through my list of contacts and tapped two of them, then sent the message.

"Who were you calling?" Bianca asked, innocently. Looking at the screen again to make sure the textcalls went through, I closed the Pokegear.

"Just telling my mom and my best friend to have a merry Christmas." Bianca oddly cooed at this, pointing at me with an accusing finger. Stepping in front of her, I gave the nurse four of my Pokeballs, as Cyan and Erin were already 'fighting-fit', and turned to Bianca, who continued to point.

"Momma's boy~! Momma's boy~!" She said in a sing-song voice, and I blushed once again. Bianca clapped and cackled in glee, and Dusty turned away from her in embarrassment, along with Cyan and Erin, and I blushed harder in embarrassment – if my own Pokemon were embarrassed by a friend of mine, then it was really embarrassing. Bianca abruptly composed herself again, and looked at me with a smile. "So, how have you been, anyway?" I heard my stomach grumble loudly, and I got Cyan and Erin's attention that we were leaving. I beckoned Bianca to come along.

"Come with me. I saw Cheren in town, too, so we can all talk over lunch."

Soon enough, Bianca and I found Cheren (buying something that he constantly avoided showing us), and after some persuading (which was really Bianca repeatedly bothering Cheren until he gave up and agreed), we all found ourselves in a very large café, seated around a circular table. Cheren, Bianca and I all sat together, while our Pokemon either stayed on the ground or sat in high-chairs. I had to admit, it both warmed my heart and made me laugh that Cyan pushed his high-chair right next to Erin's. Ever since they admitted their mutual feelings, they had almost literally grown inseparable. As we all waited for our food to be delivered, Bianca turned to me, her eyes glinting in mischief.

"So, Bill. Like I said before, anything new happening with you?" I smiled a bit, leaning back in my chair, and I thought about what I should start with. Deciding, I turned to her.

"Well, I've caught a few more Pokemon, for one. I haven't gotten to use them much, though." Taking out the Pokedex, I scrolled through the pages before showing Bianca a few new entries I had gotten. Cheren took interest in them as well, straining himself to try and read over my shoulder. After they had had their fill of reading, I went back into thought, but then felt a slight pull on my sleeve. Looking down, I saw Erin and Cyan, both staring back with pleading eyes. Smiling lightly, I picked them both up and plopped them into my lap. Cyan looked over Erin and her arm, then nodded in approval and sat down, wriggling a bit to get comfortable. Bianca laughed and patted Erin's head, but her voice filled with concern when her hand brushed against the hard splint.

"Oh, no… Bill, what happened to Erin?" She asked me, and my eyes darkened as the memory of that day resurfaced from my subconscious. I looked at Erin, who looked back at me and gravely shook her head 'no'. I looked back at Bianca, mouth in a frown.

"It… I don't think Erin wants me to talk about it." I smiled at her, trying to wave away the moodiness that had come over the table. "Don't worry, it's nothing. Anything new going on with you?" Bianca seemed a bit apprehensive, but gave me a small smile back as she brought over a Mushanna.

"Mirage evolved!" She laughed happily, and I stroked the hovering tapir's head, making sure not to inhale the pink Dream Smoke it exhumed from its body. The thing let out a pleased… noise, and pressed up against Bianca's face. She laughed and hugged it tight, then let it go back to doing whatever it was doing before. "Mirage's gotten really, really strong now! Like, wicked strong!" She opened her palms wide to express her seriousness, and Cheren let out a mocking laugh, covered by a cough. I turned to him and gave him a disapproving look, and he suddenly yelped in pain, grasping his hand. I looked down and saw Matthew, now a Liepard like Refia, sitting down nearby and looking pleased with himself. He stared at me with a ridiculously endearing look, and I gave him a pat on the head, eliciting a bit of deja vu from me. He licked my hand and meowed, and trotted off over towards James. Cheren shot a disapproving look right back at me before turning away with a 'humph'. I was about to ask him to not be too mad with me, but our food suddenly arrived, placed in front of us like a carrot in front of a Ponyta.

We dug in hungrily, although some more hungrily than others, and for a good amount of time there was silence, save for the smacking of lips and chewing of food. I munched on my meal (another plate of the fried Magikarp that was surprisingly good), and Erin and Cyan occasionally stole glances (and more frequently stole pieces) at it. Bianca wolfed down a platter of Mareep chops, and plopped a few in Dusty's food bowl when he piped up for some. Cheren had only ordered a small salad, which he shared with James. Both of them ate rather meticulously, not missing a single piece of lettuce, and not stopping until the plate was clean. After an hour, we paid the check, recalled our Pokemon, vacated the room, and were back out on the street. The three of us wandered around the city for most of the day. By the time evening rolled around, we had found ourselves at a small playground near a building.

I walked forward with Cyan and Erin, stretching, and I sat down after all the walking we had done to watch the sunset. It wasn't actually sunset yet, but it would be before long. It was lightly snowing now, and Cheren sat next to me with James. I could hear Bianca giggling to herself, probably at us, but I didn't mind, and we probably would have stayed there forever had something moderately soft, very cold, and oddly fluffy hit the back of my head. The momentum of the snowball pushed me forward slightly, and I rubbed my hair as the particles of the white flakes stuck to my head. Turning to look back at Bianca, I noticed her attempting to stifle a laugh by covering her mouth; the picture of a guilty party. I stood up, giving her a disarming smile while grasped a handful of snow… and then chucked it at her, causing her to nearly fall over.

"Okay, now it's war!" She cried, and she dove (to my surprise) into a small snow-ditch, tossing another snowball my way. I leaned to the right to dodge it, and ran over to the area opposite Bianca, making a small batch of snowballs. Cyan and Erin followed me, confused as to what we were doing, but when one of Bianca's snowballs accidentally collided with Cyan, he understood perfectly as both he and Erin began to toss snowballs.

She let out a "Hey, that's cheap!" as one of Cyan's tiny snowballs hit her coat, and Dusty the Pignite rolled a huge snow-boulder at us in response. It missed us completely, but soon Bianca called all her Pokemon out to help, and Cyan, Erin and I began to have a difficult time dodging the veritable rain of snowballs being cannoned from her little fort. A large snowball hit Erin in the face, and she shook it off, a pile of snow staying on the tip of her nose. Cyan laughed at her, only to be on the receiving end of a snowball from Erin. But before any of us – me, Bianca, Cyan, Erin, Dusty, anyone – could do anything else, we screamed in surprise as a tiny avalanche of snow fell onto us both. As we dug ourselves out, we looked behind us. Cheren was on my side, wearing a warm smile, and James was on the other, wearing his trademark smug smirk: they had shook the trees above our respective forts. I raised my hands in defeat.

"Okay, I'm sunk. You win."

Cyan, Erin and I waltzed into our room in the Mistralton Hotel, absolutely exhausted but happy. Most of the snow on my clothes had melted into damp patches, and I tossed my jacket and scarf onto the couch, where they would probably lay until tomorrow. I dumped the four Pokeballs containing my other Pokemon into my bag and flopped onto the bed, yawning loudly.

"Ahh... what a day." Cyan and Erin leapt onto the bed and stood on it, gazing out the window at the sight of the town. Our room wasn't very high, only on the third floor, but the view captivated them regardless. Looking with them, I saw the world bathed in a silvery moonlit glow, the shine thinly refracting off of the snowflakes.

"Well would you look at that..." I managed to say while yawning again. I felt a slight rumble in my pocket, and I pulled out my Pokegear. "A new textcall...?" I tapped on the option to read it on the bottom screen, and after a bit the message appeared onscreen.

"Merry Christmas to you too, from... Rose and Cara?" I poked the attachment icon and soon found myself looking at my best friend's happy, smiling face, draped with chocolate-brown bangs, and a Santa-hattted Vulpix, its paws high in the air in an incredibly cute pose. My heart both skipped a beat and melted at the same time, and I lay back on the bed, pondering... then I quickly typed out one more message before I lay back again and fell asleep for the night.

"See you soon, Rose."

* * *

"...To understand each other, trainers struggle through battle, and wound Pokémon in the process. Am I the only one? The only one who sees how very painful it is?"

"...I understand that Pokemon battles cause injury, but most of those injuries can be healed at a Pokemon Center, even if a Pokemon faints. Didn't you know that?"

_He stood there, silent for a moment, then gestured towards Erin's splint._

"What about that wound? Why have you not gone to get that broken arm healed?"_ I rubbed my chin in thought, but N waved a hand at me before I could respond._

"Regardless... I have spoken to your Pokémon." _He spoke carefully, as if trying to find the right way to speak._ "...Since the day I was born, I have been brought up with Pokémon. It's more comfortable to me than talking with people."

_I nodded slowly, taking in every word._ "I see... so that's why you can understand and communicate with them, and I can't." _He smiled warmly, the realization that I got what he was saying sinking in._

"Yes... and I know that Pokemon cannot ever lie." My _eyebrow twitched upward._

"Are you positive about that? Because I've known Pokemon that lie all the time, even if I can't understand their words." _N was silent again, and for a while we simply stood together, in the cold winter snow. Suddenly, he knelt down to Cyan and Erin's level. He glanced at their intertwined paws, then looked straight into their eyes and spoke to them._

"Cyan... Erin... Would you tell me what kind of trainer Bill is?"

_For a few minutes, nothing could be heard by Cyan and Erin's chattering. When he stood up, he brushed some snow off of his shoulders and hat, and let out a_ 'hmm.'

"So, you were born and raised in a country far away from Unova, with your mother. And you've journeyed through many different regions before... you want to see the world and live to the fullest, they told me. And..." _He trailed off._

"They told me that without you, they wouldn't have found each other... both seem to trust in you and believe in you as a great friend. How splendid...!" _He looked up at me, his face glowing with happiness._

"If only everyone could get along with Pokemon the way you seem to. But the world's fate is left to those who use Pokemon only for themselves..." _He sighed, then looked off towards Spiral Mountain, a twisting cone of rock far in the distance._

"Ghetsis is having Team Plasma search for a special stone. They're a pair... the Light Stone and the Dark Stone. We search for the latter." _I regarded him with a bit more seriousness now - I knew how dangerous searching for stones could be, if Hoenn's paired Red and Blue Orbs were any indication._

"Why are you telling me all this? Doesn't detailing your plan to me defeat the purpose?" _I asked him, and he gave me a hurt look._

"Don't you understand? The body of the legendary Pokemon from Unova's legend was destroyed in a great battle, but its spirit lives on inside the Dark Stone. If I can revive and befriend it..." _His eyes seemed to shine with hope for a moment, but he then trained his gaze on me._

"My dream is to make a world devoid of strife. If this change is forced, then people will oppose it... but then Pokemon are injured in the process. Pokemon are not toys; humans don't understand the power that's inside." _He sniffed a bit, and I noticed that he seemed to be on the verge of tears._

"As such... it pains me a bit to have to separate Pokemon from trainers when there are people like you who respect them, and treat them so lovingly..."

"Then don't separate us." _I blurted out._ "It's that simple."

_He looked down at the concrete for what seemed like ages, and then brushed past me, slowly walking away, his pace reluctant. I turned._

"N." _He stopped and looked back at me._

_I smiled at him._ "See you later."

_He was quiet for a moment, then gave me a small smile and waved goodbye to me before he swiveled around again and walked away, his footprints quickly disappearing from the freshly falling snow._


	9. Icirrus: Rising Blue Lightning

The frigid air of the snowed-over city froze my innards as I exited the gym, Erin flexing her arms tentatively, making sure they still worked after getting her splint removed. Despite the fact that she had performed flawlessly against Brycen's Pokemon, she still seemed to be hesitant when fighting. Then again, after almost a month of no battling, I couldn't blame her for wondering. A beribboned stone pendant, carved from a half of Cyan's own pendant, swung from her neck – a Christmas gift from Cyan to her, I had guessed.

The Christmas season had come and gone, leaving Unova (and the rest of the world) soon to enter another January - today was New Years Eve, actually. The thick snows of the morning and occasional nighttime hail of December had been replaced with gentle dustings of snow almost every day, but the holiday spirit that had permeated the region still remained. After a difficult trek through the beautiful Spiral Mountain (and a long session of training there afterward), we had found our way to Icirrus City, which itself was covered in thick snow and slippery ice. Small wonder the gym focused on Ice types.

As for my Pokemon, much had changed – Setzer had evolved into an Archeops, and had finally gained the ability to fly. Eiko had evolved into a Cinccino. Erin, the little trooper she was, had also finally gotten out of that splint, and her arm seemed to work just as well as it did before – in fact, the break she had taken from training had seemed to have somehow made her even stronger. Cyan had grown stronger as well, and I had gotten worried that he hadn't evolved again yet… until I realized that his and Erin's twin pendants were Everstones, which had shocked me. I wasn't sure why Cyan didn't want to evolve again, but perhaps the matter was best left alone.

"You did well in there, Erin." She looked at me with bright eyes, obviously happy that she could fight with us again. "At this rate, we'll get to the League in no time at all!" I flipped open my badge case and handed her the Icicle Badge, which she looked at in glowing fascination. She plopped herself down in the snow and began to play with it, twisting it through the air as if it was an airplane, and I laughed at her childish antics. She nearly attempted to bite it, but I swiped it from her grasp before she could. Wiping it off on my sleeve, I slipped it back into my badge case before beginning to walk forward. I only took a single step before stopping in my tracks.

"Bianca! Cheren!" I said in surprise, as the blonde girl and the dark-haired boy ambled towards me. Cheren noticed my badge case, and his eyes flashed.

"So, you've already got the Icicle Badge…" He shivered, and I noticed that he was wearing a bright, mint green sweater that clashed with the rest of his clothes. Bianca seemed to giggle as he pulled it tighter – it was probably a gift from her. "I'm going to challenge the gym now." He stepped forward to move past me into the freezing-cold building, but a bright-blue clothed figure blocked him from entering.

"Who's out here?" He whispered in a hushed tone. I immediately tensed at the sound, and Bianca looked at Brycen with a confused look. I was about to 'shhh' at her when she spoke quite loudly.

"What are you talking about? There's Bill, there's me, and there's Cheren…" Brycen's eyes darted from side to side, taking us in, then pointed to two different place and stared at a third.

"I know you're here… show yourselves!" As soon as he had spoken, three white-haired, dark-clothed men appeared out of thin air. Bianca screamed, collapsing onto her rear in panic, and Cheren's hand instinctively went for his Pokeballs. I ducked down into a fighting pose, and Erin did the same, ready for whatever the Dark Trinity would throw at us. But the trio of ninjas didn't move – instead, they simply looked at me from all sides and pointed, brandishing a blade garlanded with Pokeballs towards Brycen.

"Well done, Brycen of Icirrus. Only a master ninja could have seen through our concealment." They spoke sincerely, and I heard Cheren growl at them in disgust. Brycen, however, remained very calm.

"What issue do you have here, Plasma? State your business or else leave." He said, with a quick tongue and a sharp bite to his tone. Erin had gone into a more casual position, although she still eyed the ninjas with great suspicion. The Trinity was silent, then began to talk again.

"We originally planned to tell this message to Bill and Bill only… but by now we see no problem with telling all of you." The middle ninja turned to face me with a piercing gaze, and I shot back a confident look of my own. "Ghetsis has instructed us to send you to the Dragonspiral Tower. There, at its pinnacle… Lord N has a message for you."

Brycen and Cheren gasped, and I sucked in my breath. Bianca looked confused, but the Trinity ignored all but me. "If you do not come… then the world will face the consequences." And with that, their figures disappeared, not even leaving tracks in the snow. Brycen dashed forward, suddenly and uncharacteristically losing his cool.

"Wait…! What did you mean by the Dragonspiral Tower…" We stood for a while, trying to understand the cryptic words of their message. I rubbed my stubble again, and thought hard.

"The Dragonspiral Tower… The oldest building in Unova…" Where had I heard about that building before? "Wait… wasn't that where that Plasma grunt was headed with the Dark-"

Realization hit me like a truck as the ground shook slightly, and Erin screamed loudly. I knelt down to comfort her.

"Erin… Erin… the earthquake's over, don't worry…" I patted her back as she yelled into my scarf, and she soon stopped, pointing over my shoulder, letting out a 'Mien'. I turned to see a great big clump of pure black thunderclouds gathering at the top of a tower.

My eyes widened, I gasped in horror, and I dashed off through the snow towards the Dragonspiral Tower north of the city. I could hear Cheren and Bianca yell after me, "Bill! Wait!", but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. I had to get there and stop what was going to happen at all costs. If he was able to befriend the legendary Pokemon… then the world would truly be on the brink of destruction.

* * *

I hacked and wheezed, my breath short as the thin, windy air of the top of the Dragonspiral Tower entered my lungs, and a whole croud of Pokemon followed behind me – Cyan and Erin appeared first, then Eiko riding on top of Setzer, then Vivi and Refia. We trudged forward, and I chanced a quick look off the edge of the tower. My heart dropped and splashed into my stomach as I saw how high we were, and I felt lightheaded, falling to my knees. I crawled away from the side of the tower, my vision darkening slightly.

"Ugh… we're so goddamn high…" I breathed in hard, taking in as much oxygen as I could, and I soon stood up again, panting. My motley crew of Pokemon and I looked up, and what I saw nearly made me faint again.

There stood N, his green ponytail whipping in the wind as the thunderclouds filled the pinnacle with darkness. A single lightning bolt flew down from the sky as he held up the Dark Stone, the onyx sphere glinting with a blue tone, and the bolt smashed into the tile with a mighty roar – a roar that wasn't just one of thunder, but one of a Pokemon as well. A bright flash lit up the room, blinding us all, and I heard Eiko cry out in alarm.

"Stand your ground!" I ordered, and I heard six different cries at once. The bright light soon dissipated, and we unblocked our eyes to see the fruits of N's labors. "No…!"

Now, in front of N, there stood a great, black dragon. Its torso was hard and scaly, almost like plate-armor, and three tiny claws poked out from under each of its large and menacing hand-guards. Its shoulders were adorned with moderately-sized black wings, and its generator-shaped tail glowed a bright, menacing electric blue. The creature growled, its mean, beady red eyes glaring straight at me, and above it the thunderclouds crackled with electricity. N turned to me, his hair flapping in the wind, his cap struggling to fly away if it hadn't been held down by his hand. His voice carried even above the raging wind and incessant thunder.

"Oh... oh my god..." I could barely muster the words.

"There… don't you see now, Bill? Zekrom had befriended me… he considers me to be a hero!" The look in N's eyes wasn't insane with power, like it had been with Cyrus – it was full of another emotion instead, one much purer. It was full of innocence, of naïveté. "And now, with both my power and Zekrom's power, we shall go to the Pokemon League!"

Zekrom began to fly up in the air, soon disappearing in the clump of thunderclouds, and another lightning bolt crashed into the spot next to me. I yelped out loud in extreme panic, and hopped away, my nerves utterly shattered. Eiko made an angry face at the thunderclouds and attempted to use a Thunderbolt of her own, but the attack was sucked up by the clouds and rendered ineffective.

"If you want to stop me… seek out Reshiram! And come to the Pokemon League!" Another thunderbolt came crashing down near me at Reshiram's name, and I collapsed to the ground, my fist slamming hard into the tile. "Only then can things be in balance! Only then can we fight as equals!"

"And if you decide not to... then this will be the greatest New Year that Unova has seen yet!" My eyesight began to go dark as Zekrom flew out from the side of the tower, grabbing N, and I heard its roaring cry from the distance… I felt myself fall to the floor as one final lightning strike hit the tower dead center.

"Kkrrrrrrkkrash!"

* * *

I felt a very pleasant feeling all over my body. It was a tingly feeling, sort of like getting lightly brushed from head to toe. I let out an "Aahhhhhhh" as I let the brushing take over my being, and I leaned back to rest. The feeling wouldn't stop, though, as it began to grow much heavier near my face. It began to tickle me, and I couldn't help but laugh as the brushy feeling focused on the area under my nose. The lack of air was too much, and I sniffed a little, breathing something in. "Ah… ahhh-"

I sneezed loudly. "CHOO!" I rubbed my nose, snorting something, and I coughed in a vain attempt to get the something out of my throat. As soon as I felt better, I opened my eyes to see a bright silver pair staring back unnecessarily close into mine. "Eiko?"

The little chinchilla let out an overjoyed cry and dug into my clothes, tickling me all over, and the tingly feeling came back again as I exploded into uncontrollable laughter again. "Eiko, stoppit, haha... stoppit, that tickles!" I swerved back and forth on the bed until she finally hopped out of the neck of my shirt, doing a flip and landing on her tiptoes. I breathed in softly, and then I heard clapping.

I looked up to see a veritable procession of people standing in my room: Professor Juniper, her father, Bianca, Cheren, Brycen, and Champion Alder. My face turned beet-red at the realization that they had all just witnessed Eiko's merciless tickle-attack and my subsequent reaction, and I hid myself under the covers. The whole room burst into laughter, including a few loud squeaks that were obviously from Eiko herself.

"Hey, c'mon... guys..." Slowly, I uncovered myself to see their smiling faces, Bianca wriggling with held giggles. I felt a pain in my neck and reacted, reaching back to caress it.

"Ugh... what happened? The last thing I remember..." N, Zekrom, and the Dragonspiral Tower. The room's mood turned noticeably somber, and my face fell. "I was too late to stop him..."

Mr. Juniper stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Kiddo, don't lie to yourself. By the time we knew they were in the spire, none of us could have stopped it. Besides, he told ya to search for another dragon Pokemon, right?"

I nodded. "He talked about a Pokemon called 'Reshiram'... does anyone know what he meant?" Mr. Juniper stepped back, and Brycen stepped forward, dropping a large, white stone into my lap with a 'thud'. I let out a grunt as it put its weight on me, and I lifted it up to examine it. My fingers probed the three notches hewn into the block. I looked a little closer.

"This... this is a beautiful slab of marble..." Cheren let out a "Tch." at that, and I examined it again. Pure white marble... my mind clicked into gear, and I snapped my head upward. "N spoke of two stones - the Light and Dark Stones. Could this be...?" I asked hopefully. Brycen nodded, and I nearly exploded in excitement. "Then this is the stone that contains Reshiram?"

Alder came around and sat down on the bedside table, not minding the fact that he knocked over the alarm clock. He bent down to pick it up, but thought better of it and faced me.

"You've been unconscious for a few days now." He began. I checked my Pokegear - it was 8:30 in the morning of January 2nd. "While you've been sleeping comfortably, we've been hunting for everything we could." He gestured towards Cheren. "Cheren and I went to the Ancient Castle to see if we could find anything of interest. We didn't find anything interesting, but we did find Ghetsis." He sighed, averting his gaze to a painting on the wall.

"He said... or rather, instructed... me to return to the Pokemon League to fight N. I've been avoiding it with the excuse of waiting for you to wake up, but I'll have to fight him eventually - it's one of the Champion's duties, after all." I nodded. Having worked with Champion Cynthia before in Sinnoh, I knew how involved a Champion was in a region's politics. They were one of the most influential people in an area.

"As for Professor Juniper, Mr. Juniper, Bianca, and Lenora, they searched around in the Nacrene Museum and found that stone you have there. We aren't sure if it's the Light Stone, but there's a damn good chance it is." I nodded, going over the information in my mind. "However, none of us really know much about this other dragon. Only two people devote all their time and research to the ancient legends of Unova, and that'd be Leaders Drayden and Iris, who live in Ophelucid City to the east."

"Well, what a coincidence. After all, I need my eighth badge to come to the League anyway, right?" I joked, and Alder let out a hearty bellow of a laugh.

"Your resolve is impressive, to say the least." He continued to chuckle, and he patted my shoulder. "When you get to Ophelucid, I'll bring you to Drayden and Iris. As such, I'll wait there for you." He hopped off the bedside table with a thud and walked out. I heard a rush of wings, and I saw him flying away on his Volcarona, a blazing trail of flames left in his wake. Professor Juniper walked up to me, her hair slightly messy, as if she had pulled an all-nighter researching.

"Bill... this is a very serious issue that you..." She shook her head. "...that we've all gotten into." She rubbed Eiko's forehead, eliciting a cry of contentment from the chincilla, and she smiled. All was silent for a while, and I looked in her direction.

"Yes...?" I asked tentatively. She let out a sigh of defeat, then looked down at me with determination.

"Never mind. I believe you can do it. I spoke with Rowan a while ago, and he told me all about what you've done before... if anyone can handle this, then you can." I smiled back at her.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence." And with that, the professor and her father left the room, leaving only Bianca, Cheren, and Brycen, the last of which stood in the doorway.

"I shall take my leave as well. I must heal my Pokemon from the battles I had against Plasma, and then I will wait for Cheren's challenge." His smooth, authoritative tone had returned to his voice, and he was gone as quick as his message was, leaving just Bianca and Cheren.

"Bill..." Bianca's voice flowed into my ears, and I looked at her. "You know how to get to Ophelucid City, right?" I shook my head no, and she sighed. "East of Icirrus City, there's Cylinder Bridge. Past there, there's a short route with a mall, and then Ophelucid City." She took a few baby steps forward.

"I... I don't really know what's going on, other than the fact that it's major bad news, but..." Mirage the Mushanna floated out from behind her. "I know what it's like to have a Pokemon stolen by Team Plasma... and I don't want that to happen to anyone else! So..." She leapt out and hugged me, and my breath caught in my throat.

"Oh, Bill, just be careful..." She whispered in my ear. "Find the truth and then win!" She stepped back, then ran out of the room. Cheren sighed, and the two of us just stayed there, silent for god-knows how long. After what seemed like hours, he straightened his glasses, tugged on his mismatched sweater, and gave me a sideways glance.

"I guess that means I'll have to go talk Bianca back to being happy again..." He spoke as if it wasn't worth his time, but the concerned look in his eyes betrayed his voice. "Bill, I don't know whether Alder will really be able to stand up to N and Zekrom..." He began. "But what I do know is that I'm going to battle you again, one more time, before this is all over." The concern in his eyes boiled over to reveal a steeled determination, and he turned to the door.

"And I look forward to when that happens." He left the room, leaving me alone with Eiko, and I saw him trudging towards the Icirrus Gym from my window. I smirked.

"Like I said in Mistralton... I wouldn't have it any other way." I looked at Eiko for confirmation, and she nodded slowly.


	10. Opelucid: Legend of Creation

The boingy sound of a keyboard-guitar made its way into my ears as I stepped out of the route gate, the mellow-yet-cheery tone of the music relieving me of my travel weariness, and I tapped my foot to the beat. I walked over to the musician, who sat on the sidewalk, and I tossed a couple coins into a cup next to him. He tipped his hat at me as a thank you, and I walked forward. Refia padded up next to me, mewing loudly at the bright neon city, and I tousled her head.

"We finally made it, Refia." I let out a wheezing sigh of relief - Ophelucid might not have been very far from Icirrus, but it sure as hell felt like it. As much as I liked ice skating and Pokemon battling, I could have done with less of both in the time between the two cities. I felt myself begin to sweat, so I unzipped my jacket and took it off, letting my red shirt flap in the wind. Stuffing my jacket into my bag, I looked up at the cloudless sky.

"Wait, what?" I did a double take and looked at the area where we had just come from. Dark, foreboding clouds rained large chunks of hail down on Route 8, and buckets of rain poured down on Route 9. "How the hell..." I was about to ask a random passerby about what on earth was going on, but I was abruptly thrust out of my thoughts when said random passerby immediately turned and walked the other way.

"Wha...!" I looked behind me to see what he had just attempted to escape from, only to be greeted by the loud sounds of horns and marching. Seven men and women, dressed in plain white-and-silver tunics, quickly trampled forward to the city's main square. Two carried horns, while the rest carried odd lances that looked like they were made from plastic. A Patrat rode from a man's shoulder in the middle, and I noticed his flowing robe swishing around his feet as he walked. My eyes narrowed.

"Another Plasma rally." I heard a gruff voice behind me, and I turned to see Alder standing behind me, his bright, spiky red hair unmistakable. He looked past me, his long face rather somber. "We'd better go listen to Ghetsis's lies again." He stomped forward, but stopped as Refia nuzzled his palm, and he patted her back softly. Together, we walked ahead to the rally, now already in full swing.

"That lying son of a-" Alder cut himself off before he could finish his sentence, and he breathed out slowly. "He's desperate to fool everyone with his speeches."

"It is so!" Ghetsis cried out, his green hair flapping dramatically in the wind. "Through Lord N, we have joined forces with the legendary Zekrom! We shall create a new land together!" His uncovered eye was devoid of emotion, but his voice was dripping with false charisma. He paced a few steps, then turned towards the crowd again. "Thus shall be a reimagining of the legendary hero's recreation of Unova!"

At this point, the crowd gasped in surprise, and a loud, panicked batch of conversations broke out. I turned to Alder.

"'Recreation of Unova?' What is he on about?" Refia meowed in mutual confusion, and Alder patted her back again.

"Drayden and Iris will explain everything to you. Let's see if we can find them." I nodded in agreement, and we began to make our way through the crowd in an attempt to find the Gym Leaders. As we weaved our way through people, Ghetsis continued his speech.

"We, as humans, wish to study a great many things. One of these things is Pokemon themselves... but Pokemon, when captured and used by humans, have limited potential!" I heard a few murmurs at this. "If we wish to see the true power that Pokemon could possess, then we must free Pokemon from human control!" The crowd flared up, and I suddenly realized that I had gotten lost in the wild uproar.

"Free Pokemon!"

"Do you mean stealing them!"

"That's crazy!"

Ghetsis held up his hand. "And that is why a new land will be created! To free Pokemon! To free humans! To ensure freedom for everyone!" He nodded curtly to a grunt as the uproar grew to a fever pitch, and he trotted away, a smirk plastered on his head, held high. I stood on my tiptoes as the crowd began to move away, and I spotted the tips of Alder's red hair. I quickly made my way over to him, not wanting to waste any more time staying lost. Ironically, by the time I got to Alder, the crowd had all but dissolved into nothingness, the once-furious bunch of people going off, fulfilling whatever other affairs they had. I leaned forward a bit in surprise. Alder was talking to two people.

The first was an older man who looked slightly like Professor Oak. Actually, no, scratch that, he looked nothing at all like Oak, that was a complete lie and I don't know why I said it. His white-tinted hair was in a bold, confident style, and his beard spiked upward like a Pokemon's jawbone. His white shirt and gray pants contrasted his purple gloves, suspenders, and shoes, and an emerald-green ribbon drifted down his shirt. I almost wanted to ask if it was a Pokemon Contest ribbon, but I thought better of it – it wasn't really the time. But what I could definitely tell was that this man was very old, very old indeed - perhaps as old as, if not older than, Professor Rowan.

The other person was a tanned girl, who had to have been, at the very most, twelve years old. Her indescribably huge amount of purple hair was tied up into pigtails that sprouted from her head, and a ponytail in the back, and she wore a cream-colored shirt with pink trim, along with a pink skirt and white pants. She was leaping around like a wild Nidoran, and I heard an odd cry coming from her poofy hair, which was answered when she literally stuffed a hand into her ponytail and brought out a Axew, which whined. She giggled, gave it a treat, and it happily chomped down, digging back into her hair. It was such a bizarre sight that I couldn't help but take a step back and gape in awe, but I shook myself out of my stupor quickly - it wasn't very polite to stare in such a way, especially as they were probably the Gym Leaders.

"No use making a bad first impression." I told myself, and I stepped forward. Alder, the older man, and the girl turned towards me, and the girl leapt up and hugged me tightly.

"Oh! It's the mister from back in Castelia!" My mind did a flip in my head as she made the remark, and I began to wildly run through my memories of Castelia in a vain attempt to remember the girl. I scratched my head and then tried to pry her off of me. Alder raised his eyebrow.

"You've met Iris before, Bill?" Finally, one memory surfaced - the memory of Bianca, crying over her kidnapped Munna - and I understood.

"Wait! You're the girl who helped Bianca train after she got Mirage back from Plasma!" I grinned widely, mentally patting myself on the back for not making a fool of myself in front of the Gym Leaders, and the older man (who I assumed was Drayden) eyed me studiously. Iris, on the other hand, jumped off of me, grabbed my hands, and began to hop up and down repeatedly in excitement.

"You remember me! You remember me!" She chanted, as if it was a mantra that needed repeating. Refia, who had at first sniffed at the girl, now stepped backwards, obviously not fond of Iris's hyper personality. I tousled her head again and recalled her to her Pokeball, releasing Eiko in the same moment. The moment Eiko saw Iris, in all her jumpiness, she bounded up onto her and wriggled her way into her hair, eliciting a gasp from her and a groan from me.

"Eiko, no. C'mon, get outta there." I patted Iris's ponytail slightly, and Eiko burst out the other side, play-wrestling her Axew to the ground, who let out a yelp of surprise. Eiko placed one foot on the little dragon's head and thrust her arms into the air in victory, before squeaking lightly in surprise as I picked her up and nested her on my head, while Iris picked up her Axew and did the same thing. Eiko tugged on my hair for a bit before settling in for a nice nap, and Alder and Iris chuckled, while Drayden remained silent. Alder turned to me.

"Well, Bill, I've told Drayden and Iris about you and the Light Stone you carry. I've got to go to the League now…" His face turned thoughtful. "Actually, I suppose it would be returning to the League, wouldn't it?" Drayden and Iris nodded, so I nodded along so that I wouldn't look ignorant. Alder released his Volcarona and mounted it.

"I'll beat N, of course. I'll teach him how wonderful this world is, where people and Pokemon can live in harmony together!" He gave me a smile. "And Bill, as the Champion, I'll wait for your challenge! Once you've got Ophelucid's Badge, come to the League. I'll look forward to it." And with that, his giant moth flew into the sky, a slight burning trail left in its wake, much like the one left in Icirrus's snow. We waved him off until he was a speck in the sky, and then I turned to the two Gym Leaders.

"Well, I was told to come here to both get the Badge and to learn about the legend of Unova's creation, so… what shall we start with?" I asked quickly. Iris stared up into the sky absentmindedly, while Drayden folded his arms and let out a sigh.

"I'd say that you learning about the legend would be more urgent, so come with us to our house." He stood up straight and tall, and he walked off to a small, unassuming house in the distance. Iris grabbed my hand and began to jump up and down again.

"C'mon! I can show you to anywhere in the city!" Before I knew it, I lunged forward against my will, Iris dragging me around the large city. Seeing as we had some time, I decided to make some small talk with her as soon as I freed my hand from her grasp.

"So… why isn't it stormy here? When I was traveling here I had to trudge through snow, hail, rain, the works." I shivered just thinking about it, and Eiko mumbled in her sleep. Iris stopped to go inside a small building on the street, and I waited patiently. Or really, rather impatiently, as I had gotten to the point of playing music in my head and tapping my foot to the beat before she came back out. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Iris and Axew holding two ice cream cones and two ice cream cups. She had a strawberry cone, a vanilla cone, a chocolate cup, and what looked like a cookie dough cup, and she was smiling brightly, as if this was a special occasion. She held the chocolate cup out to Eiko, and handed me the vanilla cone.

"For you guys!" I took the treat and licked it greedily, not expecting her to be so generous. Eiko immediately plummeted from my head and dug her face into the cup, and Iris and I burst into peals of laughter. As we continued to walk through the city, Iris turned to me.

"Sorry, did you ask me something before?" I nodded and repeated my question, and she grinned. "Mayor Papa Drayden had this neat machine installed into the city's route gates a while back. It's designed to use strong wind power to keep any unwanted weather away from the city. We let in a rainstorm every now and then to keep things fresh, but most of the time it's sunny, sunny, sunny!" She giggled and spun in a circle, oddly euphoric. I was a bit stunned by her blunt yet confusing explanation, but shook it off as we continued to explore.

"But, that seems a bit… I dunno, unnatural, I guess." Iris ignored me, so I continued talking to myself as I bit into my scoop of vanilla ice cream. "Is the convenience of sunny weather really worth the money for that system?" I would have argued with myself more, but we arrived at Drayden and Iris's house. She walked forward, pressed her palm on the door, and it disappeared, almost like a force field. She dragged me inside before the force field could rematerialize, and giggled at me.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just… you look so bewildered!"

I heard stomping, and Drayden appeared from a back room in the house, his hair and beard slightly disheveled. He looked straight at me, our eyes locking for a moment, and then he loosened up and pointed to a hallway.

"Bathroom's over there. You might want to clean yourself up." I felt a little insulted at that, but walked in anyway, flicking on the light and locking the door. I looked into the mirror, only to be greeted by Eiko's nearly-unrecognizable, chocolate-covered face, and I immediately understood.

"Eiko, you're such a ditz." I took a paper towel, doused it with water from the tap, and began to scrub at her face. Instead of leaping back as I expected her to, she quietly cooperated and closed her eyes, letting out a "Chiii…" of happiness, obviously taking great pleasure in making me clean her up. I responded with a grumpy grunt and nothing more.

* * *

I entered the back room of the house after I finished up with Eiko. It was quite large, but somehow still rather cozy, with a small sci-fi-esqe table, three futuristic-looking chairs, and (for some odd reason), an old-fashioned antique grandfather clock that still ticked. Drayden and Iris sat in two of the chairs, so I walked over to the third and plopped myself down, fidgeting a bit before getting comfortable. I plucked out three Pokeballs from my messenger bag, returning Eiko to one, and releasing Erin and Cyan from the others. They emerged onto the floor and looked around in wonder before sitting down on my feet, hands held together. Iris cooed at them, while Drayden drew an old, worn book from under his chair.

"I suppose we should start at the beginning of the legend." He flipped open the cover, revealing a faded title page, the words 'Property of Drayden' barely legible, and then turned to the first page of the book. I strained my neck to look, and saw scribbles, doodles, and all manner of notes – this must have been a journal that Drayden kept. He noticed me and turned the book upwards, denying me any more peeping.

"You're a curious one, aren't you?" He let out a humorless chuckle as I leaned back in the chair, unable to come up with an excuse, and then began to read from his notes. "Let's begin." He pointed to my bag.

"You possess the Light Stone, which contains Reshiram. Correct?" I nodded. "Good. Then you already know that there were two dragons." He flipped to another page.

"Once, long ago… even before Unova was called Unova, there were three – two heroes, and a dragon. The trio arrived at this land after a long period of searching, as they had sailed away from their suddenly-destroyed kingdom homeland to find new lands like Unova was at the time. They landed here, with their dragon, and met a whole new world, full of new people and new Pokemon. They were wary of the inhabitants at first, but soon integrated into the lifestyle of the people, and lived happily for many, many long years." He turned a page.

"However… around the time when they grew to… Alder's age, I suppose. When they grew to their middle ages of life, the pair of heroes had a falling-out between each other. One of the heroes believed that they should sail back to their birthplace, the ravaged world that they had left long ago, and see if they could find out the truth about what had happened there. His was a mind of curiosity and patience, and was willing to study forever to find the truth, no matter how horrifying it might have been."

"The other hero argued for the opposite side of the view - he wished to stay in Unova and build it up into a grand kingdom to replace the one they had lost before. He was a scientific, but hasty man, and wanted to create an ideal world, where the citizens could live in comfort and ease, without having to work all day and night just to put food and water on the table." Another turn of the page. Cyan and Erin listened intently, while I took the information to heart. This seemed both predictable and suspenseful at the same time.

"They began with simple banter, then serious discussions, then arguments, and it eventually devolved into a battle between them, a fight to decide who was right and who was wrong. And the dragon that had walked with both of them, through thick and thin, split into two so it could accommodate both sides of the disagreement. One black, one white." I can't say I didn't see that one coming, and I folded my arms.

"The black one sided with the hero who traveled and toiled to create an ideal world… it was named Zekrom. The white one allied itself with the hero who wished to find out the truth about their past… it was named Reshiram. The two were equal yet unequal, searching for opposites but still part of the same coin. Their powers only made the quarrel more violent, destroying towns and people in its wake. In the end, they realized that their fight was only ravaging the new land, just as their own homeland had been ravaged before." Drayden sighed as Iris whispered something into his ear, and he nodded in defeat. She sat down and spoke.

"I'll go from here! In the end, neither hero could find each other to be right or wrong, so they stopped fighting and made peace!" Iris seemed to beam at this part, but then she turned moody.

"But… but then, many years after the two heroes had died, their sons grew to have the same ideas as their fathers, and they began the fight anew. Only this time, neither backed down." Cyan and Erin were very silent at this, and I patted their heads to wake them from their trance. Cyan let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden contact, and Erin laughed at him.

"And since neither son backed down, neither dragon backed down, either. So so so… they used their lightning and they used their fire to completely eradicate Unova…" Her tone turned very, very sad, almost dripping with the tragedy of an unhappy ending.

"And the dragons, along with one man and one woman, were the only survivors. And they realized that they had done what the heroes had tried to avoid doing before… so they worked together to recreate the world!" Her mood suddenly whiplashed to overjoyed, and I shook my head to get used to the sudden change. Drayden patted her head, and Iris smiled happily, then sat back into her chair as Drayden turned to another page in his book.

"And after that, the dragons sealed themselves away, into a matching pair of stones – one a round block of onyx, the other a slab of white marble. And they hadn't been seen since, until N awakened Zekrom, if Alder told me right." Iris nodded furiously, then piped up again.

"We can't can't CAN'T let Team Plasma separate Pokemon and people! It'll be the destruction of Unova all over again!" She jumped up and stomped on the ground, her Axew flying out of her hair.

"We can't let them! I can't let them!" As she vented her anger and frustration out on nobody in particular, Drayden and I walked up to each other, Erin and Cyan on both my shoulders.

"I'm not sure what you need to do to awaken Reshiram from the Light Stone…" He started off slowly. "…but what I do know is that Reshiram will recognize a person's great strength. And in that case, I'll be waiting for you at the gym. Show me the power that you and your Pokemon have accumulated over the course of your travels!" He strode out of the room with a regal air, and I felt my hands curl into confident fists.

"You won't be disappointed, Drayden. I promise."


	11. N's Castle: Balance is Restored

"A dark flame filled the man's eyes." _The woman who stood in front of me began. She turned from her desk, a pen stuck between her fingers, and I noticed that her dark purple eyes, hidden behind a large, round pair of glasses, were deep in thought. I stood on top of the gigantic pillar, still a bit woozy after the two blue willowisps levitated me to the area where I now was. It was pretty high - not as high as the Dragonspiral Tower, but still pretty high. The girl suddenly snapped her fingers and turned again, her hair waving behind her, and she scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. She turned towards me again, slightly flustered._

"...A passage from a book I'm writing_." I tilted my head, a bit interested. An author?_ "It's about one of my previous challengers, but it's a rather... sorrowful story." _She drew herself up to her full height, her dark black bow rustling slightly as she cricked her neck._

"Aha..." _She laughed slightly, a bite in her tone._ "I meant on the challenger's part." _I nodded impatiently, wanting to get through this quickly._

"Now, let me, Shauntal the ghost-writer, test your abilities as a League Contender!" _She tossed a Pokeball high in the air, and out came a Cofagrigus, glinting evily in the dim light._

_I drew a Pokeball out of my bag and snapped it forward._ "Let's go, Refia!"

_

* * *

_

_A black-haired man, dressed smartly in a tuxedo, greeted me in the next tower of the castle. He sighed, lounging on a couch, and looked away, his voice full of unhappiness and boredom. He was obviously unimpressed by me, not that I cared._

"Hmph... what will today be like?" _He stood up, looking out a window of the tower._ "Challengers always come, one by one, to my tower..." _He snapped his finger, and the lights went out, letting in only the light of the full moon, and as he turned to look at me, I noticed a single fang poking out of his mouth._

"And they accomplish nothing. I am Grimsley of the Elite Four. May you fulfill your purpose as my opponent!" _He dropped a Pokeball on the ground behind him with a dull 'thud', and out came a Scrafty, already excited to battle._

_I drew a Pokeball out of my bag and snapped it forward._ "It's time, Vivi!"

_

* * *

_

_I wheezed unhappily as my feet touched solid ground again, the completely black room lit up by bright stars of energy, one of which deposited me on the ground in front of a large bed. I heard a loud yawn, and the curtain in front of the bed swished open, revealing a familiar face - an older face, a wiser face, but a familiar face. I waved to the girl slightly._

"Caitlin? That you?" _The girl rubbed her eyes, stayed still for a moment, then strode forward and warmly shook my hand._

"Bill? The same Bill whose best friend earned a Silver Print at the Castle?"_ I nodded, smiling at the mention of Rose and Cara's great success at the Frontier building._ "It is good to see you again. How is Rose?"_ I didn't want to spend too much time talking about our past meetings, so I stepped back and drew a Pokeball out of my bag. She looked at it blankly, then seemed to understand as she too stepped back and grabbed a Pokeball from out of her dresser drawer._

"Ahh... yes, let's leave the catching up to after the battle. I am Caitlin, of the Unova Elite Four. I hope you will not give me a boring battle!"_ She tossed the ball, releasing an adorable Reuniclus, that clapped its jellified hands together._

_I snapped the ball forward._ "You next, Eiko!"

_

* * *

_

_As the moving platform rose higher and higher, taking me to the top of the final League tower, I could hear a furious sound of punching and kicking, grunting and yelling. As I reached the top, I saw a man, his orange hair, pants, and hand-wraps contrasting his martial arts outfit, which was a pastel blue. He turned to me and thrust outward, his fist an inch from my face._

"My name is Marshal. I studied under Alder to master the art of fighting, and even now continue to train."_ As sweat poured down his forehead, he grabbed a bottle of water from the side of the arena, swigged it deeply, and then breathed, refreshed. We were both silent for a little while as I let Marshal catch his breath, then he spoke quickly._

"You too have earned my master's recognition. And as such... I want to see what he sees in you. Show me your power!" _He roared as he tossed out a Pokeball, the Throh inside rolling out and getting into position._

_I drew a Pokeball from my bag and snapped it forward._ "Your turn, Setzer!"

* * *

My feet clacked against the floor, the dark marble tile not even getting scuffed from my shoes as the golden pillars and smooth granite statues passed me by, each hallway looking the same as the last one. Following behind me were Cyan and Erin, then Refia and Vivi, and finally Eiko riding on top of Setzer. I could feel the blood pumping in my ears as I ran through every corridor, bounded up every flight of stairs, crashed through every unsuspecting Grunt that got in my way, and I found myself standing in front of a set of double-doors, already open wide, leading into darkness. I was about to enter when a green-haired, oddly-robed man crashed into me, knocking me over. He cackled meanly at my position.

"Welcome, possessor of the Light Stone." He said, his tone mocking, and all six of my Pokemon growled at him. "This castle, hidden under the League's castle, is a sign that Unova shall change. N has defeated the Champion... N has become the ultimate trainer!" His mad laughter dissolved to a quiet snicker, and he stepped to the side of me.

"And will you become a hero like him?"

"I have to try."

And I moved past him, entering the room beyond.

I was greeted by a dazzling light, reflecting off of every surface of the room - the walls, the floor, the water below... and there, sitting on a giant, golden throne, was N.

He was still in his casual clothes, his white shirt and khaki pants unmarred as he spoke quietly to himself. I walked forward tentatively, unsure of whether he realized I was there or not. As I made my way across the blue carpet leading to the giant chair, he spoke, his uneasy tone freezing me and my Pokemon on the spot.

"What I want... is a world of only Pokemon... By separating people and Pokemon, both will regain the power that they alone can have. This is the last battle." He casually stepped off of the throne and ambled towards me, and I strode into the middle platform, where we met, my blue eyes locking into his passionate emerald ones.

"You came to fight me... but you lack Reshiram. Does he not recognize you as a hero?" He gave me a disappointed look and pointed at me. "I'm crushed. Really. I like you, Bill. You care for your Pokemon, or at least I thought you did. But if Reshiram doesn't see that, then obviously I was wrong about you!" My Pokemon stepped out from behind me, chattering out in reply, but N silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"You have two choices. Either fight a hopeless battle, or let Pokemon and people be separated. Zekrom!" He raised his palms to the sky, calling out for the mighty dragon.

The room began to shake, and Erin screamed out in terror, while I immediately shifted my weight to keep my balance. She dashed into Cyan's arms, too spooked by the earthquake-esqe shaking to think rationally, and Cyan hugged her tightly. Before anything else could happen, Zekrom crashed through the wall and throne and came to rest behind N. His scaly, armored body leaned forward as it roared at me, and its tail began to spin and shake with electricity. Letting out an incredible wave of power, it screamed out as the immense power struck all the sides of the room, evaporating all the water below. As it let out a huff at the sight of me and my Pokemon, I felt something vibrate inside my bag.

"My Pokegear...?" I drew it out of my bag and checked it. There were no new messages, no new calls, nothing out of the ordinary... so why did it... as I felt the vibration again, N's eyes widened. I saw the Light Stone float its way out of my bag, and everything suddenly fell into place.

"Could it be...!" N muttered to himself. Before I could stop it, the Light Stone began to spin at an incredible pace, absorbing energy from its surroundings. Zekrom eyed it warily, but N placed a hand on its chest to calm it. The stone began to radiate energy, and it suddenly burst into pieces with a blinding light, engulfing N, engulfing Zekrom, engulfing everything. I shielded my eyes with my sleeve, and for what seemed like ages, all was quiet.

Then I heard something.

What was that noise?

A heartbeat?

I uncovered my vision to be greeted by the sight of a beautiful white dragon, curled up into the fetal position. Its eyes were closed, and all around it was a bright blue forcefield - almost like an egg. I walked towards it, the sound of my movement the only other noise in... wherever I was, and the heartbeat grew louder and louder until it was the only thing that could be heard. As I looked at it, I felt myself grow at ease, and I gathered up enough courage to place a hand on its head. Its eyes snapped open, a bright, confident blue... cyan eyes that pierced me to my soul. The dragon seemed to move slightly and I heard a voice in my head.

"Awaken." Suddenly, I was back in the throne room, and the dragon flipped open and onto its feet, showing everyone its true majesty.

Two feet protruded from its bright, teardrop-shaped body, the neck elongating into its muzzle. A pair of streaming tails of fur drifted from its head as its wings beat up and down. Its fur gracefully streamed upward in smooth tufts, and its tail began to blaze with an incredibly hot fire. As it let out a beautiful cry of joy at being given life again, it stood and looked at me with what might have been the tiniest hint of a smile. I stepped in front of it and reached up to it with my hand.

"Reshiram...? Will you be my partner?" The dragon let out another cry, and moved its head downward to nuzzle my hair. I laughed at the sudden contact, the dragon's body warm and pleasing to the touch, and the dragon's smile grew wider. As soon as it finished nuzzling me, I stepped past it to look at N, who was now clapping as he gave me a look of extreme satisfaction.

"Originally a single Pokemon... let me tell you what Reshiram is saying. He says, 'I trust you as my ally.' Do you hear that? He recognizes you as a hero!" N seemed to laugh merrily at the very sound of his words, and I couldn't help but grin a little bit. I had met a few legendary Pokemon before, but never did I attempt to befriend one... to me, it seemed almost absurd, an impossible dream, yet here was Reshiram, telling me that he trusted me as his trainer. My giddiness gave into determination as N stepped behind his dragon.

"Now... I will fight you! And I WILL win!" He yelled as he pumped his fist in the air. As the room crackled with both strong electricity and heated flares, I called out a challenge of my own.

"Let's just see about that, N!"

It was a difficult battle. Many of my Pokemon nearly fainted, kept awake only by our mutual determination to stop N's plans, and one by one, his team fell. In the end, he was left with just his Zoroark, and it eyed me and Erin with a glint in its eye, despite its numerous wounds.

"Erin, you've got this... one more Drain Punch!" The Mienfoo leapt into action, ducking and weaving around the area before landing a solid 'thwack!' onto the monster fox's chest, absorbing the last of its will to fight into her body. With a gurgle, the Zoroark fell to the ground, unconscious, and N withdrew it into its Pokeball before stepping forward. But before anything could be said, an angry stomping could be heard, and both of us looked in its direction. Behind me was Ghetsis, an incredulous look on his face.

"You..." He thrust out an arm and pointed accusingly at N. "You're supposed to be the one who will carry on my family name?" In his rage, Ghetsis dashed forward with a punch, knocking N to the ground. I took a step forward and yelled out, "Hey!", but Ghetsis's face was filled with pure, unadulterated disgust and disappointment.

"What a worthless... utterly worthless son you are!" I stopped in my tracks. Son? N was Ghetsis's... kid? I doubted that Ghetsis could even get a woman, much less have a kid, but I guess even crazy ideas had some degree of chance.

"All that Team Plasma has worked for... it's been for me and my interests alone! I would take control of the world! N did perfectly fine up to the point of befriending Zekrom, but then he got arrogant and wanted to fight you!" He bellowed out, and I felt my teeth clench in anger. He planned this all along! He went behind everybody's back!

"And then, instead of winning like you believed you would, you let a commoner, not even a native Unova citizen, beat you! You're nothing but an imperfect person, raised by Pokemon - you deserve to be exiled from this castle so you can live in the wild with Pokemon, where you belong!" N stayed silent throughout the tirade, but I couldn't help but get a great feeling of hate... the same feeling I had felt in Electric Rock Cave. Nobody deserved what Ghetsis was saying except Ghetsis himself.

"Ghetsis... who... who says that to their kid?" I yelled. "You're no better than... than..." My face screwed up, and he laughed at me.

"No better than who? A common criminal? No, I'm far better than that. After all, my plan's worked so far, hasn't it?" I growled, and I heard Alder and Cheren run up behind me. Alder stopped at my right, gasping at the sight of Ghetsis, and his eyes blazed angrier and angrier as I filled him in.

"I would manipulate Unova's people with the power and fear that Zekrom commanded! The world would have been my Clamperl! A complete, totalitarian, worldwide empire, starting with the land of Unova!" He suddenly walked over to N and kicked him, knocking him back onto the ground, only to lift him back up by the scruff of his shirt.

"You, lying, cheating-" He, unlike me, cut his curse off again, and his nails dug into his palms. Cheren only watched, silent as the tension increased further and further. Ghetsis grabbed a Pokeball out from under his robes, and threw it out at me, releasing a Cofagrigus. N attempted to reach past his father, but Ghetsis smashed his head into N's, knocking him to the ground again, his hat fluttering to his side.

"Bill, the 'hero'! I'll see you die here, by my hands! All of you! You all must be erased, because you know too much! And then... I'll rule the world!" He screamed out, laughing maniacally, and after a few minutes it died down to silence. I looked at Ghetsis, straight into his single, emotionless eye, and spoke.

"I don't remember ever calling myself a 'hero', so I guess today's not the day to meet my maker." I tossed out Refia's Pokeball, and the battle began.

Ghetsis was no slouch in the Pokemon department either, I'd give him that. Both he and his son had excellently trained, balanced teams. However, it didn't matter, as I did too, and one by one, just like N's team, Ghetsis's team fell as well. However, it was far, far closer of a battle than I had ever expected it to be - by the time Ghetsis was down to his last Pokemon, his Bisharp, I too was down to only one Pokemon, and who else was it than Cyan.

"Cyan..." I started, and he turned to look at me. The Bisharp dashed forward to strike, and my eyes flashed - thankfully, Cyan noticed and dodged, the Bisharp narrowly crashing into a throne room pillar.

"Cyan, this is it. This is the final battle, so let's end it! REVENGE!" I called out, the move rather fitting for the moment.

Revenge. Revenge for what Ghetsis had put me through. For what he had put N through. For what he put everyone through just to fulfill his god complex.

Cyan dashed forward to the pillar that the Bisharp was now attempting to get unstuck from. It did finally free itself, but by the time it turned to protect itself, it was too late, as Cyan jabbed into its chest with both his swordshells, glowing dark with neither water nor ice, but the aura of the fighting-type move. The blades embedded in the Bisharp's chest broke in half from the contact, and it let out a mechanical cry of defeat as it flew through the pillar from the momentum, crashing through the wall and hanging onto the edge with all its might. I gasped, and Ghetsis's eyes bulged out of his sockets.

"Cyan, no! Save him!" I cried out in horror, and the Dewott leapt over to the wall, grabbing the Pokemon's hand and pulling him up. I ran forward with all my strength and caught the pair as they jumped from the wall to the pillar, to the arena. The Bisharp had fainted from fright, and I lay it down in front of Ghetsis so he could return it to its ball, which he did. And then, other than the wind running through the holes in the walls from the two battles I had fought, there was silence.

"What?... That's it!" Ghetsis whispered. "I... the creator of Team Plasma, the ultimate evidence of mankind's power... am not an emperor! The world will not change to place me in charge!" He spoke a bit louder now.

"Hah, I still have evidence of my power anyway, since I was able to get the legendary Pokemon without being a hero!" He cackled to himself, his excuse perfectly good in his mind. I had half a thought to remind him that he used everyone to do so, thus he would never be recognized by Zekrom or Reshiram, but it would only have drawn on the conversation further.

"Cheren, take this madman away. Bill and I need to talk to N." Cheren nodded and roughly grabbed Ghetsis by his wrists, pulling them backwards in his strong grasp. Ghetsis continued to laugh until he was well out of sight. N was standing now, but his head was down, the black cap covering his hair blocking sight of his face. Alder was the first to speak.

"N, you're probably on overload right now... but you ought to know that Ghetsis never controlled you, at least from what I could tell. After all, you never realized his plan - you fought for what you believed in, and that's what counts. That's why Zekrom chose to be friends with you, right?" N didn't raise his head when he responded, and I could hear a strangling sob in his voice.

"But... I'm not a hero! There's no way I could be considered one!" Alder shook his head, letting out a 'tsk-tsk-tsk'.

"Kiddo, listen. Whether you think you're a hero or not, you've got Zekrom as your partner now. From now on, whatever you two do... it's up to you, and that's what counts." N snapped his head upward, and I could see the tears, shimmering in the moonlight, streaming down his face.

"But... but... we've been fighting for our beliefs up to this point! Why are you suddenly so forgiving of me?" I smiled, and so did Alder.

"Humans don't fight about what they think is right just to prove that one is right and one is wrong. If we did, then we would probably have gone extinct long ago. We have to accept the fact that people are different, that some people might want change and some people might not want change." He suddenly switch on his XTransceiver and looked at it, then spoke urgently to N.

"I'm sorry, Cheren just called, I need to go now!" Alder dashed out of the room, and I had no doubt in my mind that Ghetsis had just tried to escape. Whether he would be successful or not, it wouldn't matter now that his plans were revealed. I turned back to N, who looked at me with an innocent look.

"...Bill, can we talk about something? It's about... what your Pokemon told me back when we first met." I nodded, and sat down, placing Cyan in my lap. N was silent, then knelt down as well, petting Cyan with a hesitant hand. Cyan let out a happy 'Ta!' and pawed at N, eliciting a chuckle from the both of us.

"Hah, Cyan... when I first met you, I couldn't understand at all what you were saying..." I cocked my head in confusion. "He said he thought you were cool, and he wanted to keep traveling with you. I had never met a Pokemon that thought that way until I met you." He scritched Cyan's head, and then let out his now-conscious Zoroark, who eyed Cyan and I defensively.

"Don't worry, Zoroark, they're friends." Zoroark tentatively poked Cyan with its nose, and the pair then began to chase each other around in a game of tag, Zoroark using its speed to avoid Cyan, who I guess had been chosen as 'it'. I laughed at the sight, while N smiled wide as he watched the pair of Pokemon play together.

"And during my journey, I kept meeting Pokemon and people that gave up the time to do whatever they wished to help each other, joining their hearts together selflessly to aid one another... that's why I wanted to fight you. I wanted to make sure I was right in my beliefs." As we talked, Cyan managed to tag Zoroark, and he was now scampering around the area, narrowly avoiding Zoroark's tags.

"Surrounded by Pokemon that love and trust each other... surrounded by Pokemon that love and trust you... there was no way I ever could have won." He stood up and dusted his pants off, and Zoroark leapt into his arms, nuzzling playfully into his chest. N laughed and returned it to its Pokeball, before turning to me.

"Well, the Champion has forgiven me, but now I have to decide what to do with my life on my own. So..." He opened up another Pokeball, releasing Zekrom. It looked down at me, and I stared back up at it, noticing that the anger and distrust it had when it faced me before was now gone entirely, and I smiled. N patted the dragon's flank, then looked at me.

"Bill... back in the Electric Rock Cave... you told me you had a dream. Whatever it was, will you do something for me?" I nodded slowly. "The dream you have, I want you to see it through to the end. I know that you can do it. You can change the world with your power, and trust me on that." He mounted Zekrom's back, wrapping his hands around its neck, and Cyan tugged on my pantleg in confusion.

"Well then..." I took a step forward to stop him.

"N, before you go, one more thing." I fumbled for my journal in my bag, and I ripped a piece of paper from it, scribbling down a couple words and a picture, and handed it up to N. He looked at it blankly.

"If you're planning on exploring the world, then I'll go ahead and recommend that place. I know that you'll like it." I smiled at him. "Trust me on that."

He smiled back, slowly but surely, and pocketed the sheet of paper. "Thank you, Bill... farewell..." Zekrom began to beat its giant wings, and the pair soon hovered just above the floor. And, in the time it could have taken me to blink, they were gone, flying towards the morning sun, out the hole created from the wreckage of the wall and the throne. Cyan and I stood silent for a while, watching the sunrise on the horizon. I raised my hand and waved, despite the fact that N was miles away by now, and Cyan mimicked me, waving his tiny, dark blue paw.

"Well, Cyan... shall we head back?" I asked, and Cyan looked up at me before letting out a 'Dewott!' of approval. Slowly, very slowly, we turned our backs on the hole in the wall, and walked out of the throne room, leaving it silent once more.


	12. Epilogue: A Place I'll Return To Someday

I spun on my heel to wave goodbye to the old tour guide who had greeted me at Cherrygrove's flower orchards, then turned around again and continued onward. The wildflower's natural perfume (that the town was always engulfed in) was soon replaced by the scent of ambiguous flora and fauna, and I breathed in deep as the nostalgic sights, sounds, and smells comforted my mind. Cyan followed behind me, and we would both stop occasionally so that he could investigate whatever interested him. I laughed happily as he tried to wrap his head around the entirely new surroundings – new to him, at least.

I heard my shoes make a soft 'crunch' in the wild grass as I entered Route 29, and Cyan let out a slight yelp. I looked at him and stopped, waiting for him to finish talking with a wild Sentret, and soon he toddled back to my side, staring up at me with big eyes, full of wonder and excitement. I smiled and swept him up into a hug, holding him close to my chest as we got closer and closer to our destination. I dropped over a ledge to take a shortcut, and soon enough the forest gave way to a familiar sight, and Cyan let out a slow gasp of surprise. I patted his head.

"Don't worry, buddy. You'll see Vivi and the rest of my Pokemon really soon." He gave me a thumbs-up and a "Dewott!" of reassurance, and I casually strolled into New Bark, the path leading to my childhood house permanently etched into my mind. The town was bathed in an orange glow from the slowly setting sun, and I exhaled, pure euphoria entering my mind.

The town was rather busy, considering it was the middle of the evening; there were children out all around playing with their Pokemon. One of them noticed me and pointed at Cyan, and I soon had a whole gaggle of toddlers, no higher than my knee, crowding around me for a good look at the unfamiliar Pokemon. I looked at Cyan, who looked back at me.

"Well, Cyan? Want to say hello?" Cyan's face broke into a goofy grin, and I set him down on the ground, where he was immediately beset by the children and their Pokemon, fawning over him in admiration. I let him play with the kids for a while, and simply waited as they began a game of tag. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see an older man smiling at me. His labcoat was stuffed full of papers, pens, and pencils, and he pushed his rectangle glasses onto his nose. I smiled.

"Hey there, Professor Elm." I said, and his smile grew wider.

"I suppose you've come back home for a quick pit stop?" He asked me, and I nodded, turning back to watch Cyan get tagged by a particularly nimble Pidgey. The Pidgey's trainer giggled at their victory, but it soon turned to mock-disappointment as Cyan tagged him back and dashed off again. I clapped slightly.

"Bill, promise to come by and show me your new Pokemon before leaving for Sinnoh." He wagged a finger at me, and I scratched my head. I probably should have expected him to be curious.

"Sure thing, Professor. How about tomorrow morning?" He looked up, 'hmm'-ing in thought, then nodded absentmindedly.

"I think that works, I don't have anything going on tomorrow morning…" As he continued to talk to himself, I headed over to Cyan, giving him a short nod that it was time to go. The children let out a groan of disappointment at having their game of tag cut short, but soon waved goodbye and continued the game without us. Cyan seemed to skip along, his first impression of the town quite the enjoyable one. I was glad that he liked the town, since if he liked it, the other probably would as well… well, except Reshiram – releasing him in the middle of the town would cause too much of an uproar, so I decided to wait until the town was asleep to let him roam around. Besides, I'd need his help to get to the Resort Area. Arriving in front of the last house, closest to the waterway that separated us from Kanto, I knocked on the worn, wooden door.

I heard a few pairs of footsteps, one very soft, the others a bit loud, and the door soon opened to reveal a very confused face, that soon broke into smiles as she saw me, her visitor. At her knees were the two others I had heard: the lavender fur of an Espeon contrasting with the glowing blue-and-black of an Umbreon. I knelt down to pat Crescent and Vivian, then stood back up to look at my mother, her bright hair waving slightly in the wind.

"Hey." I said. I suddenly heard – and felt – a mini-earthquake under my feet, and I shifted my feet to prepare for the inevitable shaking that never came. Cyan let out a surprised squeak and dashed over to my mother as I was beset upon by a veritable army of Pokemon, hugging me, cuddling my legs, chattering nonsense in their excitement. I yelped out in surprise, falling over, my messenger bag flying off of my arm onto the dusty ground, and felt all sorts of sensations at once. The face of a Raichu peeked out from under the pile of Pokemon, and gave me an overjoyed look, big brown eyes overflowing with happiness as she let out a "Rai rai!" I laughed and stroked her ear before attempting to extricate myself before I was too tangled. As I was freed from the dogpile, I saw a smiling red face standing next to my mother.

"Did you tell everyone about our adventures, Vivi?" He let out a nod of contentment, and I sighed in relief. Suddenly, a voice invaded my head, and I looked at the Espeon next to my mother.

"C'mon, Bill! Get inside before everyone tackles you again!" Nodding to Crescent, I grabbed my bag and quickly stepped inside, and Cyan, Crescent, Vivian, Vivi, and my mother followed, leaving the pile of Pokemon behind to recompose themselves.

We entered the living room, the television blaring out the weather for our area of Johto, and Crescent and Vivian made themselves comfortable on one of the beanbag chairs in the corner, cuddling up for a nap. Vivi sat on a couch opposite the one Cyan and I sat on, and a wonderfully-delicious smell wafted in from the kitchen, where my mother immediately went into. Cyan picked up on the smell before I did and began to drool, and I smiled as my mom came out, carrying a few of her Cinnabar Volcano burgers, barbeque sauce overflowing onto the plate. Vivi took a plate eagerly, and so did I, my mouth watering at the sight. I carefully broke the burger into pieces, and set it on the table, away from Cyan's pleading reach. I took out four Pokeballs and tossed them up, releasing Erin, Eiko, Refia, and Setzer, and before they could panic at their new surroundings, I jammed a small bite of burger into each of their mouths before finally allowing Cyan and myself to take pieces for ourselves.

* * *

"So, I suppose you'll be heading up to Sinnoh tomorrow?" My mother asked, as the last of the burgers were finished off. My Pokemon sat all around the living room, sighing happily, and most began to toddle off into the backyard to find a good place to sleep for the night. I watched the crowd file out before nodding to my mother.

"Yeah, I'm heading out after showing Elm my new Pokemon in the morning. Gotta get an early start to get to the Resort Area before dark." The partial truth, I suppose. I picked up the plates and dumped them in the sink, and I flicked on the faucet, running water over them before beginning to scrub them with a sponge. My mother let out a 'tch' and I could feel her smiling at my back.

"You just want to get there early so you can surprise Rose." I didn't respond, seeing as she had hit the nail on the head. As I loaded the dishes into the washer, I let my mind wander. How had Rose been since I had left for Unova? Had she earned any more of the Frontier Prints? Was she doing alright money-wise? Closing up the washer, my eyes drifted onto my bag. The strap drooped low onto the floor, and I saw a small purple object inside. I snapped my fingers.

"Hey, mom? I'm gonna go take a walk." I strode over to my bag and plucked the Master Ball out, pocketing it so that she wouldn't see. She cocked her head, then smiled.

"Alright. Don't be out for too long, though, or else you'll oversleep!" Waving to her, I walked out of the house and carefully closed the door behind me, hearing it click shut. I began to walk through the city as quietly as I possibly could, and didn't stop until I had reached the base of the mountain, at the very end of Route 46. Making sure nobody was around, I lightly tossed the Master Ball forward, and it landed on the ground with a plop and opened, releasing Reshiram in a flash of purple energy. The white dragon craned his neck upwards and stretched his wings, letting out a soft cry of contentment, and I walked up to him, retrieving his ball and slipping it back into my pocket.

"Hey, Reshiram." I said, rubbing his side. He turned towards me and smiled, his cyan eyes gazing intently into my deeper blue ones. "I thought you also might want some time to relax, but since you're... well, legendary, I thought it might have been better to let you out here instead of in town." The dragon nodded his head, letting out an odd chirp in response, and he nuzzled the side of my face. I laughed at the dragon's warm touch, and stroked the top of his head in return.

_"Bill?"_ I heard a voice in my head, and I jumped slightly, turning around to find the perpetrator. I couldn't see anything... who was... I felt a fuzzy thing on top of my foot, and I reached down to pick up the little green hedgehog, who let out a squeak of protest. I held her up to my face, and she shrunk back as both Reshiram and I looked at her accusingly.

"Shaymin, what are ya doing here?" I asked her, holding her close to my body to keep her warm. She curled up into a tiny, shivering ball of fur before answering.

_"I wanted to see what you were doing... you don't normally go out by yourself at night."_ Smiling, I gave Shaymin a quick hug before uncurling her myself and tickling her underbelly. She began to laugh uncontrollably and rolled around in my cradle-hold, and I continued to tickle her until she was all out of breath. Sighing happily, I sat down against a tree and gazed at the sky, thinking about nothing in particular. Reshiram let out another soft cry and sat down next to me, covering us up with one of his wings. Shaymin nested herself in my jacket, and I stroked her back, getting a happy purr out of her in the process. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a brilliant idea popped into my mind.

"Hey... Shaymin?" I began, and the little hedgehog peeked her face up at mine.

_"What's up?"_ She replied, letting out a yawn in the middle of it. I stroked her back one more time before lifting her up and placing her on my head.

"When we head back to Sinnoh... would you head over to the Flower Paradise?" I asked, and Shaymin tilted her snout. Giving her a small smile, I began to explain my plan.

I returned to that same spot the next morning, after letting Elm look over my Unova Pokemon (excluding Reshiram, of course) and sending the rest of my Pokemon to my Villa from the lab. After waving a hasty goodbye to my mother, Crescent, and Vivian, I practically ran all the way to the base of the mountain and released both Shaymin, now in her Sky forme, and Reshiram. As Reshiram stretched his wings and flapped them a bit, I handed Shaymin a small pouch, which she tossed onto her back.

_"Alright, so I just bring this pouch to the Flower Paradise?"_ She asked, and I gave her two thumbs-up.

"Yeah, that's it. If you can't actually deliver it, you can do what you like with it - leave it there, wait to deliver it, whatever." She jumped side to side a few times to ready herself, then pushed off the ground and began to hover.

_"Alright, Bill. See ya back at the Villa!"_ She exclaimed (as much as she could, telepathically), and zoomed off before I could wave her a proper goodbye.

"Then again... it's not really a goodbye if it's a 'see ya later'." I rubbed Reshiram's flank before I swung one foot over his neck. He crowed out a bit in surprise, but I patted him to calm him down. Taking my Pokegear and my Go-Goggles out of my bag, I strapped the Pokegear to my wrist and switched it to the Map card. I then took the Go-Goggles and secured them to my face, testing them a few times to make sure they wouldn't unstick.

"Alright, Reshiram... let's goooooooooooo-" I cut myself off as Reshiram gave a mighty push into the air, causing me to shut my eyes and hang onto his neck for dear life, and he flapped off into the sky with a joyous cry.

I remember staying in that position for a long time, only half-opening my eye every once in a while to check the Pokegear's map. Each minute that passed in darkness, each time my resolve failed. My dream...

"Reshiram... I'm going to try something new... and if I freak out, will you find a place to rest so I can calm down...?" Despite my deliberate blindness, I could feel Reshiram nodding in agreement. I began to draw on all my courage. There was a sudden bounce in the flight, and I gasped loudly, but gritted my teeth and continued.

"Be brave... use all your courage!" I whispered to myself, the words a mantra in my mind as I steeled myself. Slowly, very slowly, I peeked one eye open all the way. Unfortunately, that eye immediately looked down and saw the sea, at least a good few miles below, and it shut in fear. Reshiram let out a chirp and I felt him going into a dive.

"No!" I scolded myself. "My dream... N, I promise, I'll live to the fullest!" And as I felt Reshiram leveling off again, I forced both of my eyes open.

And I gasped.

We were no longer high above the sea and clouds, but right at the edge of the water, our speed creating waves all around us. The wind whipped at my face and ears, but my eyes stayed protected by the Go-Goggles. I looked all around us, but I couldn't see anything other than the bright, sparkling, open ocean. I felt myself chuckle under my breath, and it soon turned to full blown laughter.

"I don't believe it!" I yelled to myself in triumph. "Ha-HA!" I felt my blood replaced by pure ecstasy, and I suddenly let go of Reshiram, punching both fists into the air, laughing wildly all the way. Reshiram looked back at me, smiled, and put on a burst of speed, shocking me back to hanging onto his neck. I didn't care what he did anymore, to be honest.

Because for the first time, I was finally flying.

* * *

As I recalled Reshiram into his ball, I stumbled into my Villa, exhausted but oddly happy. I placed the Master Ball onto the small glass table that greeted me at the front door. Flopping onto the bed, I heard a soft yelp of surprise, and I jumped off the bed and twisted around in midair, breathing hard at the sudden intruder. My shock was gone as quick as it came.

"Rose?" It was less of a question and more of a statement, as her chocolate-brown hair peeked out from under the bed's covers. As she burst out of the bed in excitement, a Vulpix dashed out from under the bed, standing on her hind legs and staring up at me. I laughed and patted the little fox's head before looking over Rose. She was still wearing her big, fluffy red winter coat, and I looked into her big, burgundy eyes lovingly.

"Good to see you, Bill. Have a nice trip?" She asked coyly, folding her arms. I wrapped her into a hug, holding her close, and she sighed into my shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess. It was pretty nice..." I started, and her eyes shifted towards me. "...But I think I'd like to bring you along next time." She chuckled into the hug, falling backwards onto the bed and taking me with her.

"Well, then... next time you get to go to Unova, I'll come with you. Deal?" She asked, and I snubbed her nose playfully, kicking off my shoes and kissing her cheek.

"Deal." Cara the Vulpix hopped up onto the bed and fidgeted a bit on the pillow before curling up and falling asleep, and soon, I could hear Rose snoring as well. Looking out the window of the Villa, I smiled, contentment taking over my body, and I soon drifted off into an afternoon nap as well.

If only for a little while, my journey was over. If only for a little while, I was finally home.

* * *

"Finally, I made it..." _Shaymin muttered to herself, dropping the pouch onto the grass and panting slightly. As she looked at the orange-blue sky, she felt herself morph back into her Land forme, and she nibbled on the grass of the Flower Paradise for a snack._

"I wonder if I'll have to wait very long..." _She didn't have to wait long at all, as she suddenly saw her shadow grow much, much larger. She spun around and screamed, seeing a large, black dragon towering over her, his tail crackling with bright blue electricity, and she scampered behind the pouch and looked out in fright._

"Relax, little Pokemon... he won't hurt you."_ She felt a hand pat her back, and she squeaked in surprise, turning around to see herself being petted by a young man with a green ponytail, a black cap on his head. Her eyes lit up, and she wriggled her way into the pouch, coming out with a piece of paper._

"You're a green-haired guy with a big black dragon! This must be for you, then." _She nudged the man's leg, and he plucked the piece of paper from her mouth. She stepped back and smiled uncertainly, hearing the dragon behind her growling slightly, but the man's smile only grew more and more as he looked over the paper. When he was finished, he folded up the piece of paper and put it into his breast pocket, and he knelt down and patted Shaymin again._

"Did he ask you to bring this here?"_ She nodded a yes, and the man's smile grew even wider than she thought was humanly possible. He picked the little hedgehog up, taking off his cap and putting her on his head, and he walked over to the dragon, where they began to watch the setting sun._

"So this is why he said I would like this place..." _The man muttered under his breath, and he looked fearlessly into the sky._ "Little Pokemon?"

_Shaymin looked down at the man with a curious expression on her face._ "What is it, mister?"

"Tomorrow, when you go back to him... tell him I said 'thank you'."_ Shaymin smiled._

"Sure thing, mister."_ She yawned, and felt her eyes droop from the now chilly night air._ "Good... good night, mister..."_ The man felt the Pokemon fall asleep on his head, and, feeling rather tired himself, he sat down, leaning on Zekrom for support. As N felt the dragon radiate a warm energy, he felt himself fall asleep as well._

"Bill... thank you."


	13. Afterthought: Sage Hunting

I felt myself yawn as my body woke itself from my slumber, and I rustled slightly in a futile attempt to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, the sun chose that moment to finally make its way above the trees, and the bright rays pierced through the window and landed on Rose and I, the white sheets heating up slightly from the contact. I grumbled, rubbing my eyes slightly, and I felt Rose fidget next to me. Wrapping us both up under the sheets, I curled up and attempted to get back to sleep.

But it simply wasn't to be, as soon another distraction was thrown my way, the smell of bacon, toast, and all sorts of other breakfast smells tantalizing my nose. I sighed with contentment, pleased at this new development, and gave Rose's cheek a quick peck. I couldn't wait to get up now - despite Rose's past experiences with cooking, everything that I could smell smelled great. I looked into her now half-open eyes and smiled, then frowned.

"Wait, if you're here, then..." I shot up, uncovering Rose's face, and I looked around the Villa in a panic. My eyes stopped in front of the stove, and I saw a dark-haired man, wearing a brown coat, a dark brown suit, and brown loafers. He stared at the frying pan that sat on the stove intently, focusing on its contents within, and a Croagunk sat nearby, quietly croaking to itself. With a sudden movement, the man expertly flipped the pancake and began to cook the other side of it. His Croagunk gave him an empty look of approval before turning its attention to me.

"L... Looker!" I exclaimed, both surprised, as I hadn't seen him since the Galactic incident, and not a little offended that he was in my Villa. I knew he wasn't very used to Sinnoh (although considering how long he had spent there, he should have been), but this crossed the line. "Wha... what the hell do you think you're doing in my house! And how did you even get in!"

He turned towards me, his eyes still half-gazing at the pancake so that it wouldn't burn. "Your Pokemon, they let me in." He stated bluntly, and he flipped the pancake over again before serving it onto a plate. Apparently finished, he switched off the stove and brought over a large spread of food.

"Come, eat. We have important discussions that we must discuss." Rose yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes, and she yelped when she saw Looker.

"Uh... could you step outside so that Rose and I can get dressed first?"

Looker nodded at the two of us before he and his Croagunk stepped out the front door. Rose and I gave each other embarrassed looks before hopping out of bed and slipping on our clothes.

* * *

"What? Cheren sent you?"

Looker nodded as I shoved a bite of food into my mouth, chewing slowly as Looker opened up his briefcase and pulled out a sheet of paper and tossed it to me, and I scrambled to catch it as the thin tree nearly floated down onto my syrup-filled plate. Inscribed on said paper was a letter, written in neat handwriting; a bit flourish-y, but still readable handwriting.

_Dear Bill,_

_This rather odd man arrived in Nuvema Town about a week ago, asking around about Team Plasma's doings. He didn't believe me when I told him that Team Plasma had disbanded almost three months ago, but he didn't believe me until Juniper, Bianca and I explained everything to him. He seems to know you, since he asked about where you were, and he was adamant about finding you when we told him that you left Unova. Please, if you don't know him, at least hear out what he has to say, strange as it might be._

_Cheren_

_P.S. Bianca and Juniper say that they miss you._

I chuckled through the entire letter - Cheren made it quite clear what he thought about Looker. I laid the paper on a free spot on the table and looked back at Looker, who was piling his plate with fried eggs. My eyebrow twitched upward, and he looked at me nonchalantly.

"Why do you give me a look? The fried eggs are always delicious." With a quick motion, he shoveled in a mouthful of eggs, chewed, and swallowed. Dabbing his face with a napkin, he handed the plate to his Croagunk, which plucked an egg and bit into it, and looked at me as if nothing was wrong.

"Let me begin. I arrived in Unova about a month ago, on account of the account of Team Plasma, a criminal organization performing dastardly deeds and stealing the Pokemon of the innocent citizens." I nodded. Go on...

"However, there was nothing I could find of Team Plasma's schemes. Not a hint of criminal activity in the entire region. After being informed of the information that you, miss-blonde-haired-girl, miss Professor, and mister-blue-jacket, along with the Gym Leaders, had done an admittedly admirable job of driving them out of Unova, I sped straight here with important news." He straightened his red tie, gave an ahem, and spoke again.

"You did well at defeating the evil leader of Plasma, one mister..." He grabbed a paper from his briefcase. "...Ghetsis, it says." I smiled a bit at that.

"But, Plasma was not just grunts and a leader. They also had seven other members, apparently titling themselves the Seven Sages. Ghetsis was one, but the other six..." I thought back to Pinwheel Forest, then the Dragonspiral Tower, and finally the foyer of N's Castle.

"Ah, yeah, I remember, there were other sages, weren't there..." Looker nodded, and as he closed up his suitcase, his Croagunk polished off the rest of his fried eggs, stealthily licking the plate clean.

"But what do they have to do with us? I mean, it can't be that hard to track down a few people." Rose asked, and Looker shook his head.

"Ah, but to look for the Sages in the populated areas would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but with no needle inside the haystack." Rose and I glanced at each other for support, but finding each of us confused, we began to laugh. Looker stood in silence until we finished laughing.

"Eheh... sorry, Looker. Go on, what else is there?" Rose suppressed a chuckle as Looker ahem-d again.

"Well, my original task in Unova was to track down Team Plasma, but seeing as you were able to beat them back yourself... I was going to ask if you would aid me in finding these Sages of theirs."

I thought about it for a bit, as it was a tough decision. After all, getting involved in Interpol business (again) was a big deal. If we weren't able to find the Sages, then both Looker and I would be in big trouble. On the flipside, I'd get to go to Unova again, and there was no doubt in my mind that Rose was going to want to come along this time. And the chance to find out more about Plasma was too great to disregard. Standing up, I shook Looker's hand.

"You've got a deal. We'll be there as soon as we can." Looker nodded and then bolted out the door, his Croagunk casually following behind him. Rose and I peeked out the door at his retreating figure, then both sighed, and I went to close the door.

"That's that then." I said, as Rose went over to the computer desk and logged onto the storage system. Opening the back door, I called out. "Cyan! Erin! Refia! Setzer! Eiko!" I turned back to Rose, who was now packing her backpack full of supplies.

"Well, you wanted to go with me to Unova sometime. Happy now?" I grinned, and she tossed a sock at me playfully. Taking the article of clothing and handing it back to her, I heard a knock on the back door and opened it to find Cyan, Erin, and the other three Pokemon, panting heavily. As I returned them to each of their Pokeballs, Rose finished packing her bag, latched her own team to her belt, and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She gave me a short shake of her head as she slipped a headband through her hair, and we went into the backyard, to Reshiram's little den.

With Reshiram's speed (and, as Rose called it, 'my epiphany' about flying), it took us a few hours to get to Unova, and we landed in a small patch of trees outside of Nuvema, the late afternoon rays of the sun beating down on the woodland. As Rose and I slipped off of Reshiram's glossy white back, it let out a small chirp and leaned down to nuzzle Rose's face. She giggled slightly at the warm touch, and she and I both patted Reshiram's head.

"Thanks, Reshiram. See you later." I said, returning it to the Master Ball, and we made our way out of the thick grove of trees. I unzipped my jacket as I gasped at the sudden heat of the outside, and Rose mopped her brow as we entered - and walked through - Route 1. A warm summer gust pumped through the looming windmills, powering the buildings in the valley below. As Rose and I made our way into the town, our shoes scrunched against the dirt path leading to the lab, and I knocked on the door when we arrived. The door opened with a squeak of the hinge, and I waved to Professor Juniper, hair done up in its typically inexplicable hairstyle.

"Bill!" She exclaimed, and she grabbed my hand and shook it furiously. "It's good to see you again!" As soon as she stopped tearing my arm off, Rose walked up from behind me, and Juniper shook her hand as well. "And you must be Rose. It's a pleasure."

Rose shook her head. "It's good to meet you too, professor." As we entered the lab's main area, I noticed four people - Cheren, Bianca, a red-hatted boy, and a white-hatted girl. The four spoke excitedly, both hatted trainers hugging twin Tepigs tightly, the two Pokemon's oinks of happiness overtaking everything else in the room. I smiled.

"New trainers?" I asked, and Bianca turned towards me. I suddenly found myself rubbing my back as Bianca tripped on the slick floor and crashed into me. Rose helped her up as I slowly rose up from the fall. "Heh... hey, Bianca." I coughed a bit, then regained my senses.

"I haven't seen you in so long, Bill! Oh! And this must be your friend Rose!" Cheren ambled over and I introduced Rose to the two of them, and as the two new trainers left, grins plastered on their faces, Juniper, Bianca, Cheren, and Rose and I sat down at a glass table overlooking a large, windowed wall that gave us a great view of the town outside. We watched in silence as the two trainers fought their first battle together, with the red-hatted boy's Tepig coming out on top, and then I turned to Cheren, who looked at me.

"Well, let's get to the point. Looker says that we need to find the six other Sages of Plasma." Cheren stated matter-of-factly, and Rose coughed.

"Looker's already visited us... that's why we're here in the first place." She said quietly, taking a Pokeball and releasing Cara, who yipped and leapt onto Bianca's lap. Bianca gasped, then cooed at the adorable little Vulpix, and she began to play with it, giving it treats and bopping it on the nose. Following suit, I let out Cyan and Erin, who, after saying hello to all of us, promptly walked over to the window and sat down to watch the outdoors, hand in hand. Or, paw in paw, I guess, would be the proper term.

"Well, we have a general idea of where they might be hiding." Juniper started. "I contacted the Gym Leaders, and they've searched high and low in their cities, but none of the Sages have been found, which means..."

"...ooh! Ooh! That means that they're hiding in the Routes, right?" Bianca blurted out. Cheren sighed, rubbing his temples with his free hand, his other slipped in his pocket, and Juniper nodded sheepishly.

"Y-yes, Bianca. That's exactly what it means." Juniper began to write furiously on a sheet of paper, the ink flying as words appeared on the page, and she tore it into four strips before cupping it in her palm and shaking.

"Alright, I've divided up Unova's routes into four separate areas - northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest. The four of you are going to pick these strips, and you'll look around the Routes in that general area. Got it?" We nodded.

Bianca went first, closing her eyes tight so that she would pick fairly. She unwrapped her strip of paper. "So I'm looking in the northwest?"

Cheren went next, casually plucking his strip of paper from Juniper's hands. "Southwest. Alright."

After him was Rose, and then me. We each grabbed a strip of paper, already half-knowing what we would be getting. "We're both looking in the east."

Juniper nodded curtly. "Then it's settled. Let's get searching!" And with that, everyone began to go their separate ways again.

* * *

Rose tossed up a Timer Ball, and I nearly thought she was deliberately aiming it for the top of my head. Whether she was or not, it clocked me good, and I heard her call out "Chris!" Rubbing my head for the thousandth time that day, I looked up to see a bright green Flygon stretching out its neck and arms. Its wings beat quickly, creating a low buzzing sound that annoyed me to no end. Rose hopped onto him, and held out a hand to help me up. I stepped back instinctively.

"Um... I'm comfortable flying on Reshiram, but I don't think-" I didn't get to think anyway, as she reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto Chris the Flygon, and soon we were above the trees, my hands snuggly wrapped around Rose's waist, a fast wind biting at my face. I cringed.

"You have to fly with me, since I don't know where I'm going!" She exclaimed, and I sighed in defeat. I switched on my Pokedex, went to the map function, handed it to her, and she guided Chris towards Ophelucid City.

"Y'know, I didn't explore the eastern part of Unova the last time I was here. So we're both going into this blind." She looked back at me and smiled wide.

"Then we can both have a new adventure this time!" Sighing nervously, I did my best to not look down as we made our way through the clouds (missing a few other people flying on their own Pokemon) to Ophelucid. Of course we would end up getting lost since Rose has no sense of direction at all (her Spinda had better sense of direction than her - seriously). I had offered to help guide Chris myself (after a long period of getting nowhere), but she refused my help, leading to us landing somewhere on the outskirts of a small town, near a river.

Chris gasped for breath, his wings lolling to his sides, tired from flying for so long, and Rose gave him a pat before returning him to his ball. In the same moment, she let out Cara, who gave an excited 'Pix!' and wagged her six tails. Rose gave her a vigorous pat before kneeling down, digging a small ditch and piling it with pine needles.

"Okay, Cara, could you start a fire for us?" Cara nodded before standing back and spitting out a small jet of flame, engulfing the needles in a blaze that resulted in a decent campfire. As Rose stroked Cara, thanking her, I wandered into the berry bushes in order to find a meager dinner. Plucking a few ripe Oran berries from the stubby plants, I walked back and handed a few to Rose.

"Eat up... that's all the food I could find." She nodded, giving one to Cara, and dug into the others. I popped one into my own mouth and chewed thoughtfully, the mild flavor teasing my tastebuds into wanting a full meal. Sighing unhappily, I patted my stomach and turned to look at Rose. "Maybe when we find a town we can stock up on some real food."

Slowly, she crawled over to me and wrapped me up in a hug, her hair tickling my neck slightly. "Ready to go... uh... what was it...?" She looked upward in thought. "Oh! Sages! Yeah! Ready to go Sage-hunting tomorrow?" I toyed with her bangs playfully before falling backward, staring at the stars above.

"Yeah... Sage-hunting..." My mind wandered to other thoughts as Rose began to stargaze herself. Would the Sages try to battle us? Would we even find them? And what was eastern Unova like? These questions and more swam in my head as I found myself dozing off. I just hope I didn't doze off on Rose's shoulder - if I did, I'd be in for an uncomfortable night.


	14. Afterthought: Undella Bay

Rose and I stepped through the street of the small resort town, our feet clacking on the concrete pavement, although you couldn't really tell since as there were lots of other tourists around as well. Behind us, Cyan, Erin, and Cara were engaging in a lively conversation, with Erin occasionally stepping between the Dewott and the Vulpix if they got too argumentative. Turning backwards as I heard a yelp, I saw Cyan rubbing his forehead, where Erin had bopped him, and I exhaled a chuckle at both Erin and Cara's triumphant looks.

"Heh, you'd better make sure you don't get any more bruises, buddy!" I said as I stroked the bump, and he winced. Reaching into the medicine pocket of my messenger bag, I drew out a simple Potion and sprayed it, and the misty concoction landed on the bruise, which cleared up almost immediately. Soon enough, Cyan perked up, letting out a pleased "Dewott!", and he clambered up my torso, zipping up my jacket in the process, before slacking his grip and letting himself flop around in my jacket, as if it was a bag to carry him in. Quite a few tourists began to give me weird looks, and I sighed in slight frustration.

"Cyan, you're hopeless sometimes." He ignored me and waved at another tourist, when suddenly Rose stopped, nearly causing me to crash into her. Only Cyan's well-timed push of his arms stopped me. "Rose?"

I heard her stomach grumble, and looked up. There, in front of us, was a building, the sign up top reading 'Undella Cafe'. I suddenly heard another grumbling, and looked down to see Cyan's confused face, before he looked down as well. I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, before Rose turned to look at me, burgundy eyes pleading.

"I'm hungry..." I again sighed in frustration before walking past Rose into the cafe - I didn't feel like dealing with her stubbornness today... hopefully, at least, she wouldn't buy anything too expensive. We weren't low on cash, at least since the last time I had checked, but there was always that chance of not having enough at the worst time. Rose's let out a gleeful cheer and followed me inside, along with Erin and Cara. A waiter walked up to us as soon as we had closed the door, his spotless white shirt gleaming compared to the three dark walls of the cafe, and the smell of seaweed popped up, causing me to cringe a little.

"Shall I bring you to a table, or are you here to meet with others?" I gave the guy a thumbs-up.

"Just bring us to a table, please." The waiter grabbed two menus and nodded at us.

"We have a table for four that's just about to be freed up now. Follow me." Rose and I followed the waiter, weaving through countless patrons and employees, either waiting on tables, leaving tables, or getting seated at tables. I noticed that almost every table was outside, and when I remarked about this, Cyan grew very excited. And as soon as I made it to the table the waiter was leading us to, I stopped right in my tracks and stared at its previous (or rather, current) occupants. one was a familiar wavy-haired girl - Caitlin, of course. The other was a golden-blonde haired girl, dressed in all black, cutting a striking figure compared to the rest of the people eating in the cafe. In front of Caitlin was a half-eaten Cheri pie slice (I smiled inwardly at her good taste), and the other woman was chewing on her Pomeg tart. The other woman's dull-gold eyes flashed as they peered into mine, and she stood up, offering her hand to me, while Rose immediately let out a happy yelp and embraced Caitlin.

"Oh, no way."

"Well, well, well. I never expected to find the trainer who faced down Giratina to be wandering around here." Smiling, I warmly shook Cynthia's hand, and she gestured towards an open chair at the table, which I gladly sat down in. Cynthia turned to the waiter. "They'll be paying separately from Caitlin and I." The waiter nodded before handing Rose and I menus and walking away. Rose thumbed through the menu while talking to Caitlin, while I absentmindedly handed my menu to Cyan. Cynthia eyed me knowingly, and I was a bit unnerved.

"Caitlin here has been telling me about... recent events." Her eyes flicked to the wavy-haired girl, then back to me. I gulped audibly. "It seems you've been busy, busy, busy here in Unova." Caitlin abruptly stood up, bowed slightly, and walked out of the cafe, her steps slightly wobbly and her hair flowing behind her, and I looked at Rose.

"Where's she headed?"

"Oh, she's heading back to her house. Did you pick something to eat?"

I gave Rose a confused look before remembering I had given Cyan, who was now occupying Caitlin's former seat alongside Erin, my menu. As I made a move to take it back, he spat a weak Water Gun at me and continued to read. The attack hit me head on, soaking my hair and face. I put on a grumpy look and wiped at myself with my napkin before leaning over Cyan's shoulder to see what he was looking at. I could hear Rose giggling from behind her own menu, and even Cynthia had let out a chuckle, while Erin simply smirked. I grew red with embarrassment, and I immediately glanced towards Cyan's paw as he pointed to a choice on the menu. Looking over it, my eyes lit up. He wanted a plate of fried Magikarp. We both grinned.

"Heh, alright then, Cyan." I laughed as I waved my hand. "Waiter!"

* * *

As Cyan, Rose and I plucked strips of fish from our shared plate (Rose and I with forks, Cyan with his paws), we chatted with Cynthia. Mostly we talked about what we had done since the last time we had met up with each other, which... now that I think about it, it had indeed been a while... I think the last time I saw Cynthia was in Snowpoint almost a year or two ago, and Rose had seen her about six months ago, when she had visited the Frontier. Deciding to drop the talk about our pasts, I struck up a new conversation topic.

"So, Cynthia. What brings you to Undella?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Or, uh, at least as casual as you can sound around a Champion. Her dim yellow eyes peered into mine before she spoke.

"I'm here... ah... I suppose you could call it a vacation from my Champion duties, but it's more of an expedition. Caitlin's letting me use one of the Villas here during my stay." Rose let out an 'ooh!', and I tilted my head. An expedition... I knew Cynthia, as an archeologist, sort of, loved history, but Undella seemed to be pretty modern. Not as modern as, say, Castelia, but definitely not an old city. My curiosity had been piqued.

"An expedition in this built-up resort? Really?" I joked, giving Cynthia the skeptical look to egg her on. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"You of all people should know that ruins can pop up anywhere. After all, you've seen the Celestic Ruins, even if you were surprised that the town had ruins at all." She shot back, and I smirked inwardly.

"Well, yeah, but Celestic was a pretty small town. This... this is a big, built-up resort! If there are any ruins here, they'd have to be under the sea!" I smiled disarmingly... and frowned when Cynthia began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

She didn't answer, instead going into full-blown hysterics, laughing loud and long. I looked at Rose worriedly, and she gave me the same look. This wasn't like Cynthia at all. Cyan simply sat in his chair, eating Magikarp and watching the spectacle unfold.

"Uh, Cynthia? Seriously, what's so funny?" Cynthia finally began to stifle her laughter as she looked me straight in the eye. I shrank back a bit, still unnerved.

"Hoohoo... hah... oh, it's just you hit the nail on the head with that comment." She wiped at her eyes and breathed, and nearly burst into giggles again at my confused face.

"Hit the nail on the... Wait, you're not saying that the ruins...!" I glanced over Cynthia's shoulder to stare at the open bay. She nodded, finally regaining her typical composure.

"Yeah, the ruins are underwater. The only way to access them is by using Dive." I coughed a bit, and I saw Rose's eyes sparkle.

"Really? Underwater ruins?" She asked, giving Cynthia an excited look. Cynthia smiled at her and nodded.

"Yep. Apparently there's lots of treasure down there that collectors buy for high prices. Personally, I was going to go down there so I could study the ruins themselves, but finding treasure to look over would be just as good." She took a sip of her after-meal tea and sighed into it, a tiny plume of steam rising from the cup. Rose looked over at me and gave me a wide, pleading look.

"Bill, underwater ruins! Doesn't that sound so exciting?" Cara leapt up into her lap and barked at me, and both Cyan and Cynthia gave me expectant looks. I turned away to avoid their gazes, instead opting to stare at the bay and think. Rose obviously wanted to go exploring in the ruins, and she knew I knew it - we could easily get down there with Tidal, her Mantine, but I hadn't ever doing Diving all that much with my Pokemon. On the other hand, I hadn't planned to do anything today, and I didn't want to sit around the resort bored off my ass for the rest of the day. Our Pokemon wouldn't enjoy it, Rose wouldn't enjoy it, and I definitely wouldn't enjoy it. I turned to Rose.

"Alright, fine, fine. After we pay for the food." Rose pumped her fist in the air in triumph, and Cynthia gave us both a sly smile.

"If you find anything, would you bring it to me? I'd love to go down there myself, like I said, but I need to teach Milotic to Dive first, and I don't own that particular HM." Cynthia took another sip of her tea, then spoke again. "A friend of mine from Hoenn is coming to give me one, but he won't be here for a few days. So for now, I'm relying on you."

As the waiter handed me the check, I looked at it, slipped in a small wad of bills, and handed it back to him, scooting my chair back as I did so. I whispered "Keep the change." to him, and I stood up as he left to calculate the bill. Rose immediately grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the cafe, eliciting strange looks from the other patrons, and she didn't stop until we had made our way into the shallows of the beach.

The main part of the beach was filled with tourists, swimmers, and children playing with their parents and Pokemon. The side we were on was relatively deserted, with only a stray swimmer stretching near the far end of the sand. As Rose and I waded into the warm, ankle-deep water, I rolled up my jeans so that they wouldn't get soaked when we got farther out. Rose, wearing her typical outfit of comfy shorts and a too-big orange t-shirt, strode out into the surf confidently. Cyan swam around us, along with Erin, who could only manage to do a dog-paddle (albeit a pretty good dog paddle) to follow him. Cara, as a fire-type, was only fond of the paw-shallow water, and she preferred her Pokeball to the deeper waves. As we made it out to the knee-deep water, Rose tossed up a Pokeball, which exploded in a flash of light, and a large, stout manta ray crashed into the bay, splashing all of us with water. Rose moved over and stroked the Mantine's waxy back before climbing onto it. I returned Cyan and Erin to their Pokeballs and looked at Tidal's back.

"Uh, Rose... are you sure about this?" She looked at me, frowned, and yanked me onto Tidal with a strong tug. "Ow! Why are you always so stubborn?"

She smiled sweetly at me. "Oh, no reason." She gave me a wink before guiding Tidal out to the deeper water. I grunted angrily.

"You know I hate it when you do that. You could just as easily have said, 'Yes, I'm sure!', but no, you'd never do that." I snapped, and Rose shrank back a bit. "You've been like this since we were kids." She wiggled over to me and hugged me, and my angry tension faded a bit.

"...Sorry, Bill. You're just so... not-reckless sometimes, and when that happens the only way to get to you is..." She paused, and I looked at her. She gave me a small smile. "Forceful persuasion."

My anger fully dissipated and I shoved her playfully. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped. Now let's find a place to dive down, shall we?" Rose's smile widened a bit as she guided Tidal, who blew out a few bubbles in a muffled cry, towards a large, dark blue patch of water that marked a good diving spot. As we made our way to the middle of the water, the Mantine blew a large, viscous bubble that surrounded us and just barely reached over my head, and as soon as the bubble was sufficiently large enough, we submerged, making our way closer and closer to the bottom of the bay.

It took a while - well, fifteen minutes at most - but we finally ended up finding an old, dirty, stone-brick building in the middle of nowhere. As Rose guided us inside, Tidal let out a cry of panic, and nearly bucked us off of his back.

"Woah! Tidal! Chill out, woah!" Rose yelled as she hung onto the Mantine's right fin. I hung onto its left fin and looked behind us. What was it so panicked about? My eyes widened as a large stone slab crashed down behind us, sealing off our exit, and Tidal swam over to the tile.

"What...?" The tile was covered in strange markings, sort of like the Ruins of Alph back in Johto, but... "These aren't Unown runes... they're obviously writing of some sort, but I've never seen this language before."

Unown runes. Hah, part of the history class taught to every trainer at the Violet City school. I'd spent many a day there as a kid taking the classes. But, like I said, these weren't Unown runes. "Damn... if we weren't underwater, I'd try and sketch some of these down. Cynthia'd love to get her hands on this."

"I know. Maybe we can find some treasure or relic down here that we can bring back to her. C'mon!" Slowly, Rose eased Tidal back the way we were headed before, and we swiftly glided through the mazelike ruins, stopping occasionally to look at the inscriptions that dotted some of the walls. As much as I hate to say it, Rose was right, I was having a good time. But it was still a tense time - the fact that we were stuck in there, along with the fact that the place was deserted other than us, was more than a little creepy.

"Man, this place is weird. It's too empty for a normal ruin. There's no good loot!" Rose muttered. I chuckled nervously.

"Well, let's keep looking. We should look for another way out of here, too, since our first way in's a bust." My eyes scanned the area we were in, which had changed from blue-toned walls to a darker, oddly purple-hued environment. The halls and corridors began to blend together, and soon we were hopelessly lost. Taking a turn down another purple alley. I stopped and stared.

"Rose! Look!" I pointed excitedly. There, at the end of the corridor, was an small, ancient, writing-covered statue. Rose grinned as she urged Tidal forward, and as it got in range of the statue, I reached out and grabbed it. It was soaking wet, but it was still in one piece. Success!

"Man. At least we found something." I shook it a bit to get the stray droplets off of it, and pushed my fingers into the fine chiselwork of the symbols that covered the priceless item. "These ruins must have been inhabited once, like Alph. I wonder how the hell they got this far sunk under the bay, though. Crazy."

I held tightly to the object as we exited the corridor... only to find ourselves in the main area of the ruin. "Dammit, we're still totally lost."

"Don't say that. We'll find a way out somehow." As soon as the words escaped Rose's lips, the ruins violently shook. I immediately tightened my grip on both the statue and on Tidal's fin. The shaking gradually stopped, and I slackened off a bit, leaning forward. I tensed right back up again as the writing on the walls began to... glow?

"Oh no. These letters aren't actually Pokemon, are they? I don't want to start encountering Pokemon in here, we'll never get out." I whispered, and Rose seemed to glare at the wall before going blank. I looked at the gibberish, fruitlessly trying to figure out what it all meant, before I felt... wind? I guess wind's the right word, but there really wasn't any other way to describe it other than a fell wind blowing on me, and Rose and I both crumpled onto Tidal's back, vision growing dark.

* * *

The cries of Wingulls woke me from my slumber, and my eyes slowly made their way open to see a dark blue sky devoid of clouds. I sat up, rubbing my head, feeling a great weight on my lap, and I looked down to see the statue rolling around in between my knees, the waves slowly carrying Tidal - and by extension, Rose and I - in to shore.

"I see you woke up." I turned my head to see Rose, hair slightly frazzled, looking at me, exhausted. "Somehow we got kicked out of the place and were sent back to the spot where we dove down in the first place."

I looked down at the statue, processing the information in my head. Kicked out of there... does that mean that... "You think there's some sort of time limit to how long people can be down in the ruins? Is that what the letters were glowing for?" Rose nodded tentatively, and I frowned.

"Strange... but does that mean...?"

"No, I think we can go back in there." Rose finished for me, and a hush fell over both of us. "But if we ever do decided to go back in, we'll need to keep the time limit in mind."

"Well, whatever. We got Cynthia something for her to look at, so I guess we should go deliver it to her." As the Mantine under us let out a cry of contentment, we washed back up on the beach, where Rose returned Tidal to his Pokeball, and we both began the short trek back to the main area of the resort. We found Cynthia sitting out on the front porch of one of the Villas, where she stood up and waved to us before quickly striding over and plucking the statue from my grasp.

"I... Wow!" Was all she could sputter out as she looked over the artifact, slim fingers feeling their way around every last detail of the strange item. "This... this is amazing! I've never seen anything like this before!" She flipped the thing over and continued to examine the symbols that dotted its surface. Her eyes narrowed.

"And this writing... this is ancient stuff!" Hoisting the statue into a firm, one-handed grip, she used her other hand to shake both Rose's and my hand warmly. I chuckled as she did so.

"You're not normally this excited, Cynthia. Or this excitable, for that matter." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't help it! This should really help out with my research! Thank you!" As she shook our hands again, I glanced up at the now star-filled sky before looking at my Pokegear. I was surprised - it was almost midnight.

"We should probably head to the Center before all the rooms are taken. See ya later, Cynthia." She waved to us as Rose and I headed for the Center. I yawned and stretched my arms up in the air, and Rose rubbed at her eyes, both of us tuckered out from exploring the ruins.

"Ugh. Busy day, wasn't it?"

Rose looked at me and smiled, eyes twinkling. "Yep. Wanna do it again tomorrow?"

I shoved her playfully, and she took a few steps to the side from the momentum. "Now, I wouldn't go that far..." We bantered back and forth all the way to the Center.


	15. Afterthought: Never End

I stepped onto the pavement of Castelia City, the hustle and bustle of the early morning not surprising me as much as it did on my first visit. The warm summer air swirled around, stirring up the scent of the sea that wafted in from the piers, and I breathed it in deep, inhaling and exhaling loudly. Cyan walked up from behind me, doing the same, and I chuckled softly, and somewhat sadly.

"Well, buddy... today's our last morning here," I said, and he looked at me, slightly tilting his head in confusion. "Rose decided to leave ahead of us, so we've got a few hours to ourselves before we need to catch our boat to Sinnoh."

He continued to give me a confused look, and I shot one right back at him. He seemed to get the message, and he stepped forward and held his arms out, running around in a circle and waving his arms around, almost like he was trying to be a bird. Bird. Flying. Ohhhhh. I reached back to scratch my head as his acting sunk in.

"Why aren't we flying on Reshiram back home?" I asked, and he nodded happily, obviously proud that I could understand his little charade. "Well, that would work a bit better, but we're in the middle of the big city, and it would take a few days to get to a place where we could let him out without scaring any locals. Besides, I thought you liked water."

He let out a 'Dewott!' and held his arms up, bouncing on the tips of his toes, and I smiled, picking him up and setting him on top of my shoulders. "So, what do you want to do for the next hour?"

The otter looked down at me, peering at my face as I looked back up at him, and after a brief moment he shrugged, arms spread open as if trying to say that he didn't care. I laughed, ruffling his head, and he pawed at my hand to try and get it off of him.

"Well, if you don't know what you want to do, then I'll choose for us. I say we just head to the center park and relax," I stated matter-of-factly, and with that we set off down the street. My shoes made a scrunching noise under the concrete, but I almost couldn't tell due to the amount of other people - citizens, workers, and tourists alike - all walking to and fro around the city. Now that I took the time to have a good look at the city, I noticed things that I hadn't before. Men and women, both smartly dressed in somewhat-formal clothing, seemed to stream into and out of buildings. A mother was exiting the Pokemon Center, a toddler following close behind her while riding on top of a Stoutland. A young man wearing a blue jacket and a red cap walked around with a girl in a pink cap, a Vanillite floating along behind them. As our gaze drifted over them, specifically over their Vanillite, my brain clicked, and I smiled.

"Hey, Cyan..." I began, and I looked up at him again. He wasn't paying attention to me (or, if he was, I wasn't getting all of it), but I continued anyway. "...what would you say to getting some ice cream?"

His head perked up immediately, and he began to chatter excitedly, a stream of nonsensical babble leaving his mouth as his eyes grew big with anticipation. I winced slightly as I felt him grab fistfuls of my hair, but still laughed at his antics as I took the turn onto Mode Street to head to the Castelia ice cream stand, which I prayed wouldn't be very crowded.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered, and not only was the ice cream stand not crowded, but to my somewhat-utter shock, neither was Mode Street. Excluding a small line at the stand and a few people going into the buildings nearby, the place was deserted, and the only things that could be heard were muffled white noise from the main street, and a few people on the opposite end of the sidewalk, gossiping. I ambled over to the end of the line and waited, whistling to myself as I felt Cyan bouncing on my shoulders. The line was quick, to our delight, and soon we were in front of the vendor, who gave us a cheerful grin.

"Well, buddy? What do you want?" Cyan clambered down my arm and hung there, looking at the various flavors they had out on display today, and I leaned forward to look with him. I saw a few that made me get a little hungry - mint chip, in particular, showed up just to taunt me - but Cyan eventually pointed to an ice cream tub in the top corner, and I looked to see the label 'Chesto" on the glass. I cringed.

"Chesto? Chesto berry-flavored ice cream?" I gave him an incredulous look, which he shrugged off as he nodded amiably. I screwed up my face, but sighed and turned to the vendor, who had already scooped some of the dark blue ice cream into a small cone. As he held it out, I hastily opened my wallet and grabbed a small wad of cash, and we made the trade. The vendor slipped the bills into a cash register while I managed to pry Cyan off of my arm, and I handed him the ice cream cone, which he took with a happy cry. I thanked the man, who gave us a wave as Cyan and I wandered into the central park.

It was a little more crowded than Mode Street, but still mostly empty, with an old man feeing the Pidove that roosted near the vending machines, and the trio of breakdancers that always seemed to make their front seats of the fountain their stage. I sat down on one of the benches, stuffing my hands into my jacket pockets, and Cyan hopped up next to me, gleefully licking away at his ice cream cone. The gurgle of the fountain and the chirps of the Pidove could have been enough to lull me into taking a nap, but I let my mind wander in an effort to try and stay away.

"Cyan... what do you think you're gonna do in the future?" I asked him, and he looked at me. I really have no idea where the question came from; maybe it was because it was our last hour in Unova for the time being, or maybe I was just being reflective on the whole thing. Either way, Cyan turned his gaze up to the clouds, and he scratched his chin in thought while humming softly to himself.

"I mean, I know that you and Erin are already an item, but... well, what next? Are you two gonna have an egg or something?" He whipped his head towards me, a surprised blush on his face, and I laughed. "Don't be so embarrassed. Two of my other Pokemon had an egg while I was still taking the Gym challenge in a region. It's not like it's a subject that hasn't popped up before; I was bound to ask you about it eventually."

He turned back to his ice cream, which was now mostly gone, and he bit into the cone hesitantly, obviously still a little thrown by the somewhat personal topic. I wilted. "I'm sorry... I'm being a bit too blunt about this, aren't I?"

He nodded, very slowly. His shyness was a little endearing, almost melting my heart like he did when I first met him, peeking out from behind Professor Juniper's legs, and I reached over to scratch him behind the ear. He began to purr softly, leaning into my hand, and I smiled, plucking him from his perch on the bench and wrapping him up in my jacket. He squeaked slightly, fidgeting a little before settling in, and he polished off his ice cream cone before nuzzling into my chest.

"Well, don't worry too much about it, buddy," I said. "I don't think I'm going to be doing any traveling for a while. You've got plenty of time to think about what you're gonna do next with your life." Soon enough, the ambiance of the park had worked its magic, and Cyan was soon deep into a nap, snoring quietly into my shirt. I gingerly tugged him loose, and he flopped into my arms. I noticed him sucking on one of his paws in his sleep, and I felt my grin widen, a slight nostalgic feeling washing over me.

"Sleep, Cyan... you've earned it," I whispered to him as I stood up, brushed a few stray strands of hair out of my face, and left the park.

Of course, it was never that easy (or was easy the right way to put it?), and I found a pair of people standing at the pier, waiting for me. I had been expecting a simple, quiet getaway, but that notion was definitely proven wrong as the girl, beret slightly off-kilter, flung her arms into the air at the sight of us.

"Bill!" Bianca yelled, waving me over, and I put my finger to my lips and 'shhhh'-d, hoping she wouldn't wake Cyan up. "Rose called us a little while ago, saying you were heading out today. Cheren and I came to see you off!"

She grabbed the boy by his blue-jacketed arm and dragged him over, and two Pokemon followed - a Serperior and an Emboar. My eyes widened at the sight of them, as they quickly slithered and stomped over, respectively.

"No way... this... is this James? And Dusty?" I turned my head to their trainers, who nodded, and I reached up to the large green serpent. James lowered his head to allow me to pat him, and as I did so he flicked his tongue in and out once. I wasn't sure whether that was a sign of approval or disappointment, so I stopped stroking him and moved to Dusty, who only blasted a large black cloud at me before breaking into a snorting laugh. I coughed as the soot engulfed me, and as it dissipated I glared at the boar, who only snorted harder. I turned my gaze to Bianca, who only stifled a laugh, and then there was silence, wind whipping at my jacket. Cheren stepped forward.

"So..." He started. "What are you going to do now?"

I reached back to scratch my head, and I looked up to the sky. "I really don't know... I'll probably just stay in Sinnoh and watch over the Pokemon at my house. I might go traveling again, or if there's news of a new league starting I might take it... but... well, I dunno. How about you two? What have you decided to do?"

Cheren looked at Bianca, who blankly stared back, and he sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I've decided... well, I'm going to travel somewhere, soon. Alder's tutoring me, and my Pokemon and I are training daily in Victory Road, but I want to take another league challenge soon."

My eyebrow went up. "Did you already fight the Unova Elite Four?"

"Yes, although I lost to Alder. He's incredibly strong. It's hard for me to understand why he's so modest about it."

"Mmm." I looked at Bianca, who was fiddling with her handbag. "What about you, Bianca?"

"Hang on a second..." She dug into her purse and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, and began to scribble on it. Cheren peeked over her shoulder while I checked my Pokegear. We had about ten minutes till the boat was leaving. What was she doing?

"Sorry! I'm done now. What were you asking?"

"Uh... what are you going to do now?"

"Oh!" She abruptly shoved the pad of paper in my face, revealing it to be covered in notes and writings about various things, mostly Pokemon. "I've decided that I'm going to help Professor Juniper! I want to see every Pokemon everywhere!"

I backed up a little to give myself a little more free space, and took the paper, scanning over her research. Most of it was general notes about Pokemon habits, like the Tepig's tendency to snort soot if it caught cold, or the areas where wild Pidove nested. To be brutally honest, most of it was stuff that even a casual observer could figure out given enough time, but I decided not to mention that - best to leave on a high note. I handed her the notes back.

"It's a good start. I think you'll do great as a researcher, Bianca." She smiled, and then there was an awkward silence. Checking my Pokegear again, the ten minutes had dropped to five, and I made to push past Bianca and Cheren to get onto the boat. Halfway up the stairway leading to the deck I stopped and looked down at the pair, who waved at me. Cheren's voice cut through the day clearly.

"Will you ever come back to Unova?" He had asked, and I rubbed at my chin. That was a good question. I had already taken the league challenge, and I had explored almost every city. There was the Battle Subway which I had yet to try, and there were no doubt dozens and dozens more Pokemon I had yet to see. Besides, what about the completely wild areas beyond Unova? If I was feeling particularly daring (which I wasn't, and probably never would be) I could try exploring there. Bianca and Cheren looked at me with expectant eyes, and I gave them a warm smile.

"Maybe." I answered, and I sniffed a little, something in the air tickling my nose. "Maybe."


End file.
